Demon on Display!
by crow-of-murders
Summary: A pleasant trip to the zoo quickly turns into a Hellish nightmare! At a safe distance of course.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroshitsuji or its characters. I also don't own an Easy Bake Oven. Just thought I'd throw that in there. (Edit: Now I do! Best 18th birthday present ever!)

XXXXX

"Ciiiiiiiieeeeeeeellllll! Look! Look! She's coming closer! Isn't she just so cute!"

"Yes Elizabeth. The giraffe is cute." grumbled the bored earl. They had been at the giraffe exhibit for no less than 20 minutes, and he now officially despised the creatures. They didn't do anything! All they had done since they got there was walk around and chew like sloppy cows.

"Ciel, aren't you having fun?"

"Of course I am" he replied, flashing her a believable smile. Evidently it was satisfactory, because the bubbly blond marchioness turned back to gawk at the long necked beasts once again.

This trip to the zoo was yet another attempt by Lizzy to make Ciel happy. It had been nice to get out of the manor for a little while, but Ciel had no interest in spending the day staring at filthy animals. It was excruciatingly hot that day, so the animals weren't even doing anything, making it about ten times more tedious than expected. Not to mention that they spent a minimum of 15 minutes at each animal, all of which Lizzy found adorable.

Except cats. Any type of cat, they purposely avoided due to Ciel's allergies. He didn't want to ruin the day for his fiancee by having an asthma attack. Though, there were other reasons, i.e. Sebastian's disturbing cat fetish. He had considered ordering him to stay away from them for the day, but he knew that he would end up having to listen to subtle but irritating complaints from his butler. So he decided that it would be best to just use his allergies as an excuse, per usual.

"Ohhh! Ciel, let's go see the elephants next! Can we?" Elizabeth squealed.

"Um...sure."

Halfway through his response, Elizabeth grabbed his wrist and began to drag him towards a steaming pile of dung, which was presumably the elephant display. No doubt they would be spending just as much time here, despite the stench. Ciel was far from thrilled.

After several minutes of watching an elephant eat hay and agreeing that it was indeed adorable, Ciel became anxious to leave.

"Sebastian, what time is it?" he asked, turning to his butler. Who wasn't there. Oh great.

"Elizabeth, have you seen Sebastian?"

"Hmm? He was here a minute ago wasn't he?"

"I thought he was..."

"I don't think anything bad happened to him. He probably just needed the bathroom." Lizzy said, trying to reassure her nervous fiance.

"That's not my concern! He's not supposed to wander off without telling me!" snapped Ciel, realizing too late that he took out his anger on the wrong person. Before he could prevent it, Lizzy's lower lip began to tremble and tears began to stain her face.

"I just wanted to have a fun day with you. And now you're mad at me." she sobbed.

"No, no, Elizabeth! I'm not mad at you, I'm mad at Sebastian! He wandered off and now we might get lost. I don't want anything to happen to you!" he improvised. He wiped away his cousin's tears with a black-gloved hand, and slowly the tears stopped falling.

"We should go look for him before he gets too far." stated Ciel, in complete contradiction to his 'we might get lost' argument.

"Shouldn't we just stay here? We don't know where to look, and I'm sure he'll be back soon. We can watch the elephants more! They're so cute Ciel!"

"No, he won't come back on his own." said the boy, with a finality. "I have a hunch as to where he is."

XXXXX

This area of London was used to unusual sorts of things – ranging from fantastic ice sculptures and curry to murder and kidnapping – yet the sight of two unaccompanied noble children searching around in frustration still drew a crowd. No, they weren't staring at the children. Something else had drawn this crowd.

Ciel scowled when he realized what it was. He was a small child, but he was stubborn so he managed to squeeze his way through the crowd until he was in view of the leopard exhibit. There, as he had expected, was Sebastian and the cause of all this chaos. A large black-spotted cat was leaning over the edge of the cage, and being affectionately petted by his butler. The dark-haired man was apparently oblivious to the crowd that had gathered around him to watch as he whispered sweet compliments to the feline, who was purring happily.

"Such a fine texture...and the pattern is exquisite. They say a leopard can't change their spots, but I don't see why you would ever want to." he chortled at the cat, scratching her head lovingly.

"Sebastian!" screamed the enraged child, his hands balled into fists at his sides.

The butler's eyes became wide, and his head whipped around. He was in huge trouble, and he knew it. Straightening up, he bowed deeply in repentance.

"I apologize bochan. I simply could not resAH!" He could not finish his apology, as the young boy grabbed his arm and pulled him away through the crowd. When they were away from the madness, Ciel pulled his servant aside while Lizzy gawked at the elephants again.

"Bochan, it is extremely rude to walk away in the middle of a conversation. Now Lucinda is going to think I have no manners."

"Lucinda?"

"The leopard, bochan. I decided to call her Lucinda."

"Sebastian, you embarrassed me in front of all those people with your obsession with stupid cats!"

"Bochan, they aren't stupid. Cats are actually very intelligent creatures. In fact, cats outperform dogs in their ability to master conceptual problems and also..."

"I don't care about cats! They can rot in a ditch for all I care!"

"How cruel, young master."

"You are an embarrassment! You left my side to go off and play with a tiger..."

"Leopard, bochan."

"Whatever! The point is, you shamed the Phantomhive name with your behavior! Everyone saw you!"

"That crowd was looking at Lucinda, not at me."

"No! They were looking at _you _because you were _molesting an innocent animal!_"

"I was merely admiring her beauty, she didn't mind. I always ask before admiring larger cats like her after that incident at the circus. "

"You were an embarrassment then too! If you like being on display so much..." he trailed off.

"Yes bochan?"

"What?"

"You were saying something about..."

"Sebastian, stay here until I come back." commanded the child as he crossed in front of his butler. "That's an order." he added, not wanting a repeat of the most recent cat incident.

The young earl walked purposefully towards the main building, where the zoo owner's office was located. He knocked on the door hurriedly and barged in without waiting for a response.

"Woah! How'd you get in here kid? You lost?" asked the gray haired man over his messy pile of papers.

Ciel sat down in a chair across from the man and rested his chin on folded fingers, a sinister smirk on his face.

"I have a proposal for you." he stated. The owner was taken aback by the child's display of confidence, but he listened anyway. What came from the child's mouth was simultaneously insane, horrendous and brilliant

XXXXX

Sebastian woke up on a slab of black stone, having not the slightest inkling as to why or how he had gotten there. His head was fuzzy and he was very confused. Slowly, Sebastian sat up and surveyed his unfamiliar surroundings. Black stone was everywhere; covering the walls, the floors and the ceilings. Next to him was a cave with a semi-triangular entrance, which he could not see inside. It was stiflingly hot, which he figured was the result of several tall pillars of fire scattered randomly throughout the area. Beside the rock on which he was sitting ran a thin river of lava, which dropped off the side into a bubbling pool of death.

Baffled and deeply concerned, Sebastian stood up, figuring that searching around a bit might result in some answers. Unfortunately, he only became more confused upon discovering that his butler's uniform was missing and he was inexplicably in his true form. And he was hearing voices. Now he was nervous. It didn't help that a mysterious banging noise had begun to echo against the rocks. He had no idea where it was coming from and he was starting to get annoyed.

A loud screech sounded above him, and his head snapped over as he looked for the source. What he found shocked him down to the core of his being. There were people. People pressed up against glass, gaping at him. They were all talking at once, and he only heard snippets, but what he understood sounded like this:

"...up. See I told you if we waited...just some guy in heels...really scary...is he gonna...wow...i wonder what...rocks. It must be hot...swim? I think that would...sharp. Does he...angels too? I guess...oh my...children be seeing this...scared away..."

With a look of horror at the unwelcome visitors, Sebastian fled to the back of the room and hid behind a rock. He didn't like this. He couldn't believe that this was happening. Had he, the butler of the Phantomhive family, really been reduced to the level of a zoo animal?

He took a deep breath and tried to remember what had happened before he woke up here. He had come to the zoo with his master and lady Elizabeth, met Lucinda, was dragged away and lectured, bochan left and then he waited for his master to come back. Where had he...

"Bochan." he spat. Everything clicked now. What a disturbed child his master was.

There was a loud rumbling noise in the lower corner of the room (_habitat_, he thought in disgust) and a trapdoor slid open, revealing a very short employee wearing a zookeeper's uniform. He debated ripping the human to pieces, to show exactly what a demon would do when put in captivity, but he decided against it. That would be tasteless. He was glad he made this decision, as he soon observed that this miniature zookeeper wore an eyepatch.

"Bochan." he hissed at the child.

"Is that any way to talk to your master?"

"Is this any way to treat a loyal servant?"

"Ungrateful. I spent all night building this for you! Well...I oversaw construction...You should be happy!"

"Happy?You sold me to the zoo!"

"I didn't _sell _you. I lent you."

"Why would you lend me to the zoo?"

"Well, clearly you like being on display. So I'm displaying you."

"Bochan, haven't you thought about how people will react when they learn of the existence of demons?"

"Yes. Don't worry, I have a solution. Once the month is up..."

"_Month? You lent me to the zoo for a month?" _

"Don't interrupt me, servant. I was saying once the month - yes _month – _is up, a memory alteration will be placed on all people who saw you and they will forget that demons really exist."

"How do you plan on doing that, may I ask? I can't perform memory alterations"

"Grell, of course. I gave him a full time pass to the exhibit for the month that you're here, and I also promised him the security tapes so he can rewatch it anytime. It will be annoying with him around, but I didn't have leverage with any other shinigami."

"And what do you plan to do with yourself for the next month, bochan? You can't even dress properly."

"I will be living in the townhouse with Soma and Agni. And I will be visiting here periodically to check up on you. All of the employment here are too afraid to enter your cage, so I have to maintain it. Though I'm pretty sure you can handle it yourself."

"And what am _I _to do?"

Ciel shrugged. "Entertain the people. Move around a bit, flap your wings. You do have wings right? I told them you do."

"Yes, but I don't want to show them."

"It'll keep everyone interested."

"We're not supposed to show them to humans. It's considered bad taste."

"Sebastian..." Ciel said unfeelingly. "Show me your wings."

"Bochan, did you not hear anything I just said?"

"I did. But I want to see your wings."

"But bochan..."

"I'm waiting"

"Bochan..."

"Now."

"Please bochan..."

"It's an order."

"..."

Sebastian couldn't compete with an order. He closed his eyes and released his wings. It was uncomfortable and awkward as the feathery appendiges slid out from his back.

Ciel ran his fingers across the black feathers. "I like them."

Sebastian shuttered. If demons had their own set of sins, this would be one of them. He was allowing a human to pet his wings. His mother would be furious.

Still, he rather liked that the boy was so fascinated with them. It truly fed his vanity.

"I want you to keep them out as much as possible, Sebastian. That's an order." said the entranced child.

"Yes, my lord." responded the demon. "But would you mind not touching them? Human contact makes the feathers oily."

"Tch." With one last stroke of the soft feathers, Ciel stepped away. He had liked the feeling of his demon's wings, but he was in a good enough mood to respect Sebastian's wishes.

"I'll leave you to yourself then." shrugged the boy "If you need anything, I'll be back tomorrow evening. I trust you can handle things until then."

Sebastian watched as his master slipped into the trapdoor and it began to close.

"Stop sitting there and do something!" Ciel called back before disappearing behind the rock.

Sebastian sighed and stood up, which caused the onlookers to rejoice, as they could now partially see his head. He walked around the rock and back to the forefront of the habitat, listening to the reactions, which ranged from awed fascination to traumatized horror. As much as he resented being in captivity, he had to admit, it was quite the ego booster.

As they all gaped at him, Sebastian curled his lips into a deathly smile which revealed his pointy teeth. Several people screamed, while others pushed and shoved to get a better look. He laughed under his humans reacted like that from a mere smile?

Pushing off the ground with his heeled boots, the demon leaped to a high up rock and landed in a cat-like crouch. He stared down at the humans with glowing eyes, making them tremble. Taking a deep breath, he let out a earsplitting inhuman shriek. The spectators covered their ears, screamed, and some even fainted. Sebastian smirked. This might be fun after all.

XXXXX

So how did you like it?

I intended to make this a oneshot, but some more ideas have been popping into my head as I've been writing, so I might make it a multi-chapter fic. Open to ideas and suggestions if you have them. Though I'll be starting school tomorrow, so I won't have as much writing time. Blech.

Reviews are amazing, and so are the people who give them. Don't you want to be amazing? I think you do, so review please! Con crit is always appreciated, flames are not so please don't flame.

Thank you for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroshitsuji or its characters. If I did it would be quite the odd story.

XXXXX

Ciel returned to the townhouse that night, taken home in the Middleford carriage. His own carriage would be returned to the townhouse later that week when Agni went to pick it up. The whole ride, he had been trying to come up with a reasonable explanation for his butler's sudden absence, but hadn't come up with anything believable. Sebastian usually came up with excuses for him when something like this happened, so he was rather unprepared. When asked, he blurted out the first thing that popped into his head.

"He was sick... so he went to the hospital."

"The hospital? It can't be that serious." argued Frances Middleford.

"Yes it is. There's a rare disease that runs in his family and he had to go to the hospital to make sure it hasn't been passed to him."

"Shouldn't you be with him? I thought you cared about your servants."

"He didn't want me to catch it."

"You can't catch something that runs in the family like that."

"He was worried."

"Oh no Ciel." chimed in a worried Elizabeth "I hope he's alright. I know! We should go visit him and make him feel better!"

"We can't, erm... the hospital is in, erm… France." he improvised.

"France?" Francis raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. It's a very rare illness and he has to go to France because that's where his family lives."

"You told me Sebastian was English, not French."

"He is, but his family moved to France after he came to serve me."

"When do you suppose he'll be back? You're free to stay with us in our manor if you need to."

"Thank you, but I will be fine by myself. He didn't say when he would return, but I would estimate about a month. It takes a while for symptoms to show up."

"Then why did he run off to France if he wasn't even sure he had the disease?"

"He's erm...erm...Sebastian's a hypochondriac!"

"A what?" asked Elizabeth.

"It means he's always afraid that he's sick. And that's why he went to a hospital in France when he started to feel ill." he concluded. There was a moment of silence as his fiancee and future mother-in-law took in the information.

"Ciel." said Francis "I think you need to find another butler."

XXXXX

Sebastian lay on his recently appointed favorite slab of rock, letting himself drift into a state of trance-like half sleep. The day had been interesting to say the least, and he was feeling rather content. He had forgotten how comfortable his demon form was and now realized how stiff he had gotten being in that human body for so long. Spending time in his natural, demonic state for a change felt fantastic.

And no bochan! For once he had time to relax! What a welcome idea that was. He did care for the child to an extent; fondness had creeped into him somewhere along the line and he had accepted it. But, to be frank, Ciel was a brat. He had a perfect soul, but that didn't stop him from being a snotty, high-maintenance, spoiled rich child who assumed that his butler both could and would do everything. It would be nice to have a break.

His inner butler kicked him for thinking such lazy things, but the prim and proper servant was currently residing in the back of his mind where his inner demon used to live. That false persona had been dominant for a little too long, and he was going to ignore it for the moment. Sebastian began to drift deeper into the realms of sleep when

_Awooooooooooooooooo! _

Sebastian snapped up and growled, baring his teeth at the unseen enemy. Of course bochan would put him next to the wolves. Evidently, tonight they were holding a seminar on how to bother demons. Several howls rippled thorough the air and invaded Sebastian's new home. A guttural sound escaped his throat, followed by a screech of warning. The wolves became silent and Sebastian grinned. Now finally he could...

_Awooooooooooooooooo! _

He shrieked again, even louder this time. It was followed by another howl from the other side of the wall. He smirked when he realized that the wolves were _challenging _him. How very unwise of them. Sebastian took in a deep breath and let out the loudest shriek yet, right up against the wall. The rock began to crack.

The wolves retaliated.

This was officially war.

XXXXX

After Ciel returned home, he worked in his office for a while (while Soma begged him to play) before having a nice hot meal of curry and some sort of Indian dessert involving coconut, almonds and pistachios. It was a pleasant change to Sebastian's cooking, even though he had never been fond of curry. He worked more until Agni politely asked if he would like to go to bed. Ciel decided he wanted to finish up several documents before turning in, and was greeted with an 'as you wish, master Ciel'. No 'if bochan doesn't sleep he will never grow' or 'if you are tired tomorrow, we will be behind schedule'. For once, there was no annoying demon who had to learn his place. He might donate Sebastian altogether!

Just when he finished his final document of the evening and was about to call for Agni, the phone on his desk rang obnoxiously.

"What the hell?" he exclaimed at the inanimate object. Begrudgingly, he picked up the phone and forced out an angry "Hello?"

"M-mister Earl Ciel Ph-Phan-Phantomhive S-sir! We are so so so sorry to disturb you at this hour! It's j-just... your demon thingy... it seems mad..." stuttered a voice on the end of the line. Ciel sighed in exasperation. Sebastian was already causing trouble.

"First of all, my demon is not an 'it' or a 'thingy'. His name is Sebastian and he is property of the Phantomhive household. You will treat him with respect." he commanded. Ciel couldn't stand his pawns being mistreated, even if it was his fault.

"Ye-yes Mister Earl Phantomhive. I'm so so sorry." From the tone of the man's voice, one might think he was apologizing to a ruler who threatened to chop off his head.

"It's fine. What is wrong with him?"

"Well... we aren't exactly sure..."

"So you didn't ask him?"

"No! Are you crazy? Are you trying to get us killed?"

"I most certainly am not trying to get you killed! I simply want to know what is troubling my demon! Remember who you are speaking with!"

"So so so so so sorry Sir Lord Phantomhive." the zookeeper squeaked.

"Just go and ask him what his problem is. If you can't figure it out..."

"Ask him? How do I do that?"

"You can speak, can't you?"

"Yes... b-but..."

"Don't worry he speaks perfect English! Better than you in fact. Ask him to slow down if you don't understand, he's accustomed to dealing with lesser intelligence."

"Won't it be dangerous?" asked the man, oblivious to the insult.

"Not if you stay still. His vision is based on movement. Just remember not to wear red and if he attacks, curl into a ball and play possum."

Ciel slammed down the phone and massaged his temples. Sometimes people were just so ignorant. His demon wasn't a monster. He was civilized as far as demons went, and he almost found it offensive that people were so afraid of him. Ciel certainly wasn't, even in his true form. He wondered whether or not the zookeeper was actually going to take his sarcasm as truth. It was likely, as he didn't seem to be the brightest of bulbs. Ciel smirked as he imagined Sebastian's reaction if he played dead. He would be so confused! Now that's something he would like to see.

XXXXX

Sebastian was still screaming his throat raw at the relentless canines when he heard the sound of the trapdoor sliding open once again. He turned towards the intruder, still screeching with teeth bared. It was a young man in a zookeeper's uniform, much like the one his master had worn earlier that day, but he was taller and much more plain. Dirty brown hair, pale skin and freckles – the only distinguishing feature on him. He stood still as the door closed behind him, looking paralyzed. Sebastian continued to screech for a few minutes before losing interest in the wolves and turning his attention to this man. He hadn't done anything since he entered the cage. What was his purpose here?

Sebastian jumped up and put his feet against the wall so he could push off and get to the visitor. He darted across the cage and landed directly in front of the zookeeper, who rapidly curled up into a ball. Sebastian tilted his head to the side and raised an eyebrow. He hadn't done anything threatening, had he? With a high heeled boot, the demon poked at the fearful human until he looked up.

"G-good demon... nice de-demon..." he stammered, scooting backwards. " Oh wow, you're scary... d-don't hurt me, please. Mister Earl Phantomhive told me that you couldn't see me if I was still..."

"Bochan does have quite the strange sense of humor, doesn't he?"

"You... you talk... I mean, he told me you could talk, Sir Count Phantomhive that is. He said you could talk. I guess he was telling the truth about that part..."

"Clearly." Sebastian shifted his weight, and the zookeeper panicked.

"Ahh! NICE DEMON GOOD DEMON!"

"I wasn't doing anything, but that is quite the oxymoron. I have yet to meet a 'good demon'."

"It's a what?"

"Oxymoron. Just your name, preceded by 'oxy'."

"What?"

"Precisely."

"..."

"..."

"So... um... Mister Lord Phantomhive told me to ask you what was making you angry, Mister Demon... I mean Mister Lord Phantomhive's Demon! I mean Mister Sir Lord Demon... erm... Sebastian! Mister Sir Count Sebastian, no... Demon Lord Sebastian Phantomhive..."

"Just Sebastian is fine."

"Yes... Sebastian... right. Could you please tell me what is making you angry so that I might help you?"

Sebastian glared toward the back wall.

"The wolves."

"W-wolves?"

"I hate dogs. Bochan most likely put me here due to that fact."

"Okay then... demons hate dogs... good to know..."

"Oh, not demons in general. Just me."

"Okay... no dogs... should I move you?"

"Either me or the wolves. As long as I'm not near them."

"Okay... um... what if... um... would the Earl Ciel Phantomhive be angry if I let you out for the night? Just so... just so the wolves... the wolves don't... bother you... Mister demon... I mean Sebastian! I'm so so sorry."

"It's quite alright. I believe they have quieted down for the night, so the wolves shouldn't be a problem anymore. You are free to go."

"Th-thank you Mister Lord Demon Sebastian! I... if... you... erm..."

"Thank you, I will be sure to let you know if I need anything. I presume that was your question?"

He nodded.

"In that case, goodnight." the demon said as he turned away from the trembling man. Then he had a thought.

"Do you mind answering a question?"

"Erm...um...I g-guess so..."

"Why are you afraid of my master?"

"Wh-what are you talking about?"

"Is it the cane? I assure you, he can't beat you with it. He lacks physical strength for his age. It's tragic really."

"I...I'm not afraid of you master! He's...he's brilliant"

"I see." Sebastian snickered, "That appears to be the reason for most."

"Wha..." Before he could be questioned more, the demon disappeared into his cave. He found this human entertaining, if unintelligent. And the fear was delicious. Hadn't bochan told him mere hours ago that none of the employees would dare enter his habitat? Yet this one was here by the earl's orders. It made him smile and wonder: was his master truly more frightening than a live demon? The though made him chuckle.

XXXXX

Hello! So I decided to make this a multi-chapter fic after all! *confetti* Thank you for all the faves story alerts, it makes me want to write so much faster! I'll try to do weekly updates on this one, but no guarantees because I just started school last week and it's likely going to get harder as the year goes on.

So, do _you_ think Ciel is scarier than a live demon? You should answer that when giving me reviews and con crit. But no flames please. Also, if you have any ideas or suggestions for this story, feel free to voice them! You'll get _double cookies._ Yes, I have cookies this time. And they can dance. Who would want to miss out on such an opportunity?

Thank you so much for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Dear Anonymous Commenter, your question is about to be answered.

(how Sebastian would react when Grell came to visit)

Disclaimer: Do I look like Yana Toboso? I didn't think so. So no I don't own her brilliant work, Kuroshitsuji or it's equally brilliant characters.

Thank you to all the people who reviewed, favorited or watched my story, it really means a lot!

Also, a huge thank you to mudafish for the idea.

Please enjoy. :)

XXXXX

"Ohhhhh! Sebas-chan!"

"You idiot! I can't see!" complained a voice.

"Shut up you stupid brat!"

"You're blocking everyone's view!" whined another.

"I need to. I have to get the best view of my darling Sebas-chan!"

Grell finally got time off work and raced over to the zoo immediately after his shift ended. Ever since, he had been blocking the view of everyone who neared the demon cage.

"Oh Sebas-chan! You're even sexier than I thought you were! Such naughty heels Sebby!"

Sebastian decided that ignoring him would be the best option at the moment, so he kept his back turned to the crowd and hoped with his entire being that Grell would go away.

"Ohhhhh! Such sexy pants Sebas-chan! Oh, they're so perfect how they show off your cute little..."

On second thought, maybe that wasn't the best idea. Time for a new plan. With all the power and speed expected from a demon, Sebastian flew at the window, making his eyes glow a menacing color.

"Sebas-chan! I knew you would come to see me! It must have been so hard to resist! Oh look at your eyes, glowing with the passion of our..."

A growl from the demon's throat stopped Grell's babbling and made him jump back momentarily before pressing himself closer to the glass.

"Sebby, how did you know I like dangerous men? Oh you know me so well Sebby-webby, we're the perfect match!"

So clearly fear wasn't going to work either. At least not on Grell. It worked on the humans, specifically one who had fainted against the shinigami's shoulder. Sadly, her glasses had broken. He couldn't help but think of Maylene at the moment, as she wore glasses and broke things quite a lot. She also had many nosebleeds, which were a pain to clean up.

"Nosebleeds!" he said suddenly, as if the meaning of life had just come to him.

Hopping off the wall, Sebastian snapped his fingers and his room went black. A loud crash could be heard from inside the cage, and people outside screamed, worried that the fearsome creature had broken out.

When everything was ready, Sebastian snapped his fingers again and the fires lit up, revealing a confusing sight for all.

XXXXX

"Ciel, when will you be done?" whined a certain prince.

"When you stop asking when I'll be done."

"But Ciel, this is boring."

"Draw some more pictures."

"I already used all the paper you gave me. Look at what I drew you!"

"Later."

"But I drew pictures of us doing fun things together. This one is us playing chess together, which we still haven't done. And this one is you showing me around London, which you still haven't done. And this one is us going swimming in a lake at a resort, which we also haven't done."

For the next several minutes, Soma continued to shove poorly drawn stick figures into Ciel's face, describing what they were doing (because otherwise he would have had no idea) and stating that they hadn't done it yet.

"And this one is..."

"Soma! I just had a great idea of what we can play!" shrieked a falsely enthusiastic Ciel.

"You do?"

"Let's play hide and seek! You hide somewhere around the mansion, I'll count to 100 and I have to come find you!"

"Ciel, you really want to play with me?"

"Of course! It'll be fun!"

"Okay, but no peeking!"

"I'm closing my eyes now."

Ciel's deep cerulean eye vanished behind his eyelid and he began to count.

"1...2...3...4"

When he heard his annoying 'friend' bumble out of the room, Ciel immediately stopped counting and returned to his paperwork.

"That should hold him for awhile."

He hadn't been working for two minutes when Agni appeared in the doorway.

"Master Ciel, dinner is ready."

"I see. Please bring it up here, I want to continue working."

"Are you sure, Master Ciel? You have been working hard all day, surely you need a rest."

"I'll rest later. Just bring it here."

"Yes, Master Ciel."

Agni brought him a tray of food, all of which smelled delicious, and lifted up the silver cover to unveil, of course, curry.

"Thank you."

The words sounded awkward coming from his mouth, as Ciel barely ever used the phrase toward any of his servants. But he felt that since Agni wasn't a total pain in the ass, it was justified. He was almost godly compared to...

Oh no.

He forgot to check on Sebastian.

He said he would be there that night, and it was already dinner time. He could just hear it now. 'Bochan, it is unfitting of someone of your stature to disregard scheduled meetings. You must learn to be on time or else your bedsheets will freeze and cockroaches will nest in your ears.' Or something like that. He never listened to Sebastian's rants beyond a certain point, so he was never quite sure of the consequences he gave. But Ciel always figured that if he was ever late, he would just apologize, make up some excuse and it would be over. He decided that unless it really did involve sleeping in ice or hosting a family of cockroaches in his head, he would take his chances.

Honestly, how much trouble could one demon cause while locked up?

…

It couldn't hurt to check.

"Agni, I believe I left something important in my carriage. Take me back to the zoo."

"Master Ciel, I don't think we will be back before your bedtime."

A blue orb pierced into the Indian man's soul as Ciel insisted,

"I don't have a bedtime! We are going _now_!"

"As you command."

XXXXX

"It's not here...It's not here!" Ciel panicked as he ruffled through his carriage.

"Master Ciel, what are you looking for? Perhaps I can help." offered Agni.

"No! It's not here! Someone stole it!"

"Master Ciel, I don't think..."

"I'm going to have a word with the owner. Stay here and guard the carriage. And the prince."

Soma decided to hide in a room that was exclusively used by Lau when he came to visit. There, he unintentionally inhaled a sleeping drug and has been out for several hours. The young earl was almost positive that when the prince awoke, he would be dubbed the worst hide and seek player in the world.

Ciel left his temporary housemates behind and walked briskly in the direction of the newly installed demon exhibit. He laughed inwardly upon seeing the massive crowd that had gathered in front of the glass window. These people were gawking at_ his_ _servant._ The idea was absurd, but amusing nonetheless.

He wondered what Sebastian was doing to draw such attention to himself. It was probably nothing special if he knew his butler well enough. He had a habit of making mundane things look spectacular. Plus, zoo-goers were often excited by the slightest movement of an animal. And this was no animal, this was a creature of legend come to life. It was likely that he wasn't doing anything at all to attract this mob.

The young Phantomhive forced his way through the crowd (which wasn't difficult, considering he was a noble among commoners, and rather scary) and looked into his demon's habitat. What he saw will scar his nightmares for the remainder of his life, and perhaps a little into his afterlife.

A support beam from the ceiling had been snapped out of place and was now running vertically from the top to the bottom of the cage. The tall pillars of fire had been colored in exotic, ever-changing shades; sometimes flashing slow, sometimes fast.

At the center of the spectacle was his butler, upside down with his legs wrapped around a pole, sliding down with a sinful smile on his face. He flipped himself over onto the ground and walked around the pole, one hand gripping it before spinning around it in the air, legs spread apart in a V. He landed and caressed the support beam sensually with his body.

The child was in shock as he watched his servant molest the broken ceiling beam via dance. What on earth was he thinking? Ciel decided it was time to end this sickening entertainment.

He stormed to the back of the demon habitat and the security guard let him in, snickering at his anger. Normally, Ciel would have put this imbecile in his place but at the moment he needed to lecture his pet. The stone door slid open and he stomped over to the demon, who was currently twirling around the pole with one leg hooked around and the other bent behind him.

"Sebastian!" he screamed.

Sebastian spun to face him, and flipped himself upside down, eye level with his master.

"Are you enjoying the show, bochan?"

"No! Absolutely not, Sebastian! What on earth are you doing?"

"Pole dancing, bochan. The humans seem to love it."

"Why, dare I ask, did you start pole dancing? Are you really that self absorbed that you needed _more _attention?"

"I needed Grell to go away."

"So you pole danced? Sebastian, I don't know where your logic comes from."

"Well, I figured that if I did, he would get a nosebleed much like Maylene does when she spies on me practicing downstairs. As you can see, it worked. He's in a coma from blood loss and it is unknown when he will wake up."

"...Sebastian, I don't even know how to begin responding to that."

Sebastian shrugged and changed position on the pole so that he was upright and the pole was between his legs. He spun around slowly while Ciel figured out his response.

"Sebastian, you do realize if Grell doesn't wake up, he can't alter the memories and you might end up staying here until he recovers, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Then why did you do it? You're being reckless!"

"It will be fine, bochan. When the other reapers came to bring him to the hospital, I made a deal with one of them. He said that a friend of his is having a birthday soon, and if I perform at the party, he will do the alterations."

"I see... Wait, if Grell is in a coma, why are you still dancing?"

"I enjoy it bochan. The audience does as well."

He indicated the cheering crowd of onlookers with all the cockiness expected. Perhaps a little extra; it appeared his ego had grown a bit since he began living here.

"Sebastian... there is something very wrong with you."

"A servant is a reflection of his master, bochan." he muttered, climbing higher up and sliding down to a crouch.

Ciel decided to ignore that comment.

"And tell me, why did you put a pole in my downstairs?"

"Young master! I would never do such things to you! You are far to young and haven't started developing yet."

"That's not what I meant you pervert! I meant the dancing pole! I never gave you permission!"

"Oh but you did. Several months ago, remember?"

_Flashback_

"_Bochan, it is unfitting of someone of your stature to disregard scheduled meetings. You must learn to be on time or else your reputation will be soiled. Also bochan, may I put a pole in the basement so that I can practice pole dancing?" _

"_Alright Sebastian. I'll try not to be late next time. Now, I want something with chocolate." _

_End flashback _

"Remember, bochan?"

"You tricked me!"

"So you don't listen, bochan. It is very rude to ignore someone while they are speaking. If you ignore people, not only will you appear improper but you will also miss important information, like the fact that I am hiding cats in my bedroom."

"Mmhm."

Sebastian smirked as he spun around the pole in a split.

"Well, I don't want you pole dancing anymore! You are a _butler!_ This is disgraceful to the Phantomhive name! Sebastian, this is an order. Stop..."

"Bochan, remember the audience. They are paying customers of _yours_, aren't they?"

"..."

"It would be most shocking if the head of the Funtom company couldn't get a cut of the profits."

"...that's none of your business."

"Bochan, if you order me to stop dancing, less people will want to come see, and your 30% cut will be less. I know you still need to pay for this lovely setup you gave me, and heating of this degree is expensive."

"...It's 35%..."

"Impressive." 

"Shut up and continue your appalling dance."

"Yes, my lord."

"The 'shut up' part was not optional."

Sebastian continued to dance sensually against the pole as his master frowned. He hated when Sebastian made sense. Leaving the demon to his performance, Ciel left the habitat and returned to the carriage.

Sebastian happily continued to entertain the humans until the zoo closed (two hours later than usual because so many people were arriving after hearing that they had a pole dancing demon on display) however one thing bothered him. His master would need another lesson in manners when he got home. It was very rude not to tip an entertainer.

XXXXX

So there's chapter 3! Earlier than I expected, but I just had to write it. It was eating at my brain, in a good way of course. Another ginormous thank you to mudafish for the pole dancing idea. :) I hope I didn't butcher it. I'm terribly sorry if I did.

And another thank you to everyone who commented, faved or story alerted, it makes me so happy. :D see, that's me when I get any of those things.

This time, if you review, I will give you... umm... butterscotch hard candy! Because I bought some the other day and it is delicious. Concrit is great! No flaming please!

Please tell me how I did with Agni and Soma, it's my first time writing them.

Okay this has gone on long enough. Thank you so much for reading! I will try to update before the end of the week, ideas and suggestions always welcome.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroshitsuji or its characters. But pretty soon I will own some boots like Sebastian's! So I can walk around the house humming London Bridge when my family is out. *isn't possessed by demons* heh.

So many reviews last chapter! Thank you all so much, it brightens my day and I do heel clicks in celebration. I really do. Sad? A little.

Same applies to faves, alerts and suggestions, like the one I got from kitsuneluvah.

But enough of this dilly dallying.

Thank you in advance for reading! I hope you enjoy.

XXXXX

News of a caged demon had spread through all of England, and was rapidly making its way around the world. The majority were in disbelief, fascinated that such a creature actually existed. Thousands upon thousands rushed to confession, not wanting to end up spending eternity with such a fearsome being. Equal numbers just wanted to get a peek at the legendary monster who had revealed himself to the world, and traveled to the London Zoo to have this once- in- who- knows -how- long experience. Most visitors didn't bother the demon; they were too entranced and often petrified to do anything to disturb the creature. However, there are those who did so quite unintentionally.

"Wow! Look at the birdie! Hi mister birdie!"

"Would you stop playing with that bird so we can go see the demon? This is boring!"

"I'm so excited to see it!"

"Ho ho ho."

Like millions of others, the Phantomhive servants also took interest in the captive demon. At least two of them did; Finni seemed to care more about the common-looking birds in the aviary.

"But there's so many other animals we haven't seen yet!" protested the gardener.

"We'll see them later. The demon's only here for a month."

"But... don't you want to see anything else first?"

Bard laughed at his friend.

"You're not scared are you?" he mocked.

"No... I'm not scared... I just like smaller, gentler animals... and aren't demons mean?"

"Scaredy cat."

"I'm not a scaredy cat!"

"I hope it's super scary!" declared Maylene.

"Don't say that!"

"Ha! So you are scared!" accused Bard.

"Ho ho ho."

"I'm not scared!"

"Then let's go right now."

"But... I want to see the birds more..."

Bard sighed and shook his head.

"Well, I'm going to see the demon. You can stay here with your birds if you're too scared."

"I'm not... wait! I'm not scared! I'm not!"

Finni followed Bard towards the demon exhibit without realizing it, trying to get him to listen.

"I'm not afraid of..."

They had reached the window, and Finnian froze.

Bard froze.

Maylene froze.

Tanaka sipped his tea.

The three servants gawked at the creature, with jaws dropped as low as physically possible. Before them lay a winged monster, draped in the darkness of shadow, evil emanating from its being. A quiet glow of smoldering ash reflected off the dark feathers, which were wrapped gently around the slim body.

"Aww, damn it! Why are all the animals sleeping?" complained the disappointed chef. "Every time we come here, they're asleep!"

"Oh well, let's go back to the aviary." suggested Finni.

"Look, he's moving!" shouted Maylene.

The other two became instantly quiet and focused on the sleeping creature. He shifted around uncomfortably in his slumber several times before finding a comfortable position. This change revealed two spiked heel boots, which confused the trio immensely.

"Is it a girl then?"

"The sign says it's male."

"That's weird."

For several minutes they debated why a male demon would wear stiletto heels, but a pained and surprisingly human groan made them remember that the demon was more than just a pair of boots. They hadn't even looked at the creature's face yet.

Three heads tilted to the side and six eyes squinted to get a better view.

"Do either of you think it looks a little bit like..."

"It might just be the lighting, but that demon looks a lot like..."

"Why does that demon look like..."

"Mr. Sebastian!" they hollered in unison.

The demon resembled their butler too closely for it to be coincidence. There was absolutely no denying it:

"So... Sebastian's a..."

"Ahhhh!" screamed Maylene as her nose began to bleed. She loved scary stories and she (not so) secretly loved Sebastian. A combination of the two was too much for her nose to handle.

"Does this mean... what should we do?" worried Finni.

"I wonder if bochan knows." said Bard.

"If he doesn't, this could be very bad!"

"I don't think Sebastian would do anything bad to bochan."

"But it's not right to trick him!"

"It's okay. Sebastian seems like a friendly demon." said Maylene through her tissue.

"What does that have to with with anything?" asked the chef.

"If Sebastian's really a woman, then he... or she, is lying to bochan." said Finni.

"A woman? Who said that?"

"He wears women's boots, so he must be!"

"I thought we agreed that those had to make him gay."

"Well, they might make him happy but..."

"No, I mean the other type."

"What other type?" Finni asked with innocent eyes.

"It doesn't matter because it's not true!" argued the maid.

"Maylene, you have to admit... he likes baking a little too much."

"You're a chef!"

"That's not the same! I don't bake, I make artful explosions!

"My mother used to bake for me when I was little. So he must be a woman, right?" concluded Finni.

"Sebastian's baking is manly!"

"To impress the other guys I bet. You know, the way to a man's heart is through his stomach." teased the chef.

"It's not true! Sebastian can't be like that!"

"Do you have any evidence the other way?"

"Umm...well...uhh" Maylene struggled, "...umm...I know! The cat in the back garden who Sebastian likes is a girl! Ha!"

"So... you think he's into cats?"

"Sebastian loves cats!" Finni helpfully pointed out.

"He loves a _girl _cat." argued Maylene.

"His taste in cats probably doesn't reflect his taste in lovers." Bard counterattacked.

"Sebastian has a girlfriend?" asked Finni, officially confused.

"NOOOO!" screeched Maylene.

"It's pretty obvious from those boots that he doesn't swing that way."

"Huh?"

"It means he likes men, Finni."

"But... he yells at us just as much as Maylene."

"He likes to _date _men."

"Then he is a girl after all?"

Bard face-palmed and debated the best way to explain this to the naïve young man. Fortunately for all parties (especially Maylene, who on top of her massive blood loss was also experiencing panic issues) their conversation was interrupted.

"Don't you know it is rude to talk about someone behind their back? Honestly, such horrid behavior."

"Mr. Sebastian!" the trio screamed as they turned around to see the now wide awake demon against the glass panel. The voice was unmistakable, and their suspicions were confirmed; the demon was indeed Sebastian.

"Each of you know that speaking poorly of your superiors is terribly improper, and since none of you know how to keep your voices down, it will also result in punishment. Although that punishment is child's play compared to the punishment for leaving the mansion unattended while the master is away." he lectured, not hiding the fact that he was furious with the servants.

"We're sorry Sebastian!"

"We just wanted to see a real demon!"

"Please don't eat us."

"Don't be ridiculous." he scoffed "I wouldn't eat you."

Sebastian paced back and forth in front of the glass, keeping eye contact with the three terrified servants.

"There are many worse things I could do, and since you seem so interested in demons, why don't I teach you about how demons are punished? Would you like that?" They could tell it was rhetorical, though if it wasn't they likely wouldn't be able to answer. "Flogging, whipping, caning, and other human methods are sometimes used for minor offenses. But there are other punishments we use; acts that go beyond the human imagination."

"Please Sebastian! We're so so sorry!"

"We'll never do it again! We promise!"

"Please don't kill us!"

"I never said anything about killing you, but since you are genuinely sorry I won't torture you. However there is the question of whether or not I should tell the young master..."

"Please don't tell bochan! He's scary too!"

"He _will _kill us!"

"I'll take the torture!"

Sebastian stopped in the middle of the trio and glared.

"Are you speaking ill of the young master?"

"No!" they all screamed in horror.

"I might have to tell him after all. Your behavior is atrocious!"

"Please Sebastian! We won't leave the mansion ever again without your permission!"

"Never!"

"You're lucky I'm feeling generous today. You three have 10 seconds to get out of my sight and I won't tell bochan that you were here. By the way, these boots are the highest fashion in Hell, and they are unisex. _Now get out of here before I change my mind!" _

The trio ran off hollering before Sebastian even thought to start counting down. He was extremely annoyed and angry with those three, but scaring them had been fun nevertheless. Maybe he would keep their memories as they were so that they would try harder not to mess everything up. He smiled at the idea of competent help.

"Ho ho ho" came a sound from below the glass. Sebastian peered over to see a very short, very old man drinking tea in front of his cage. It was one servant he was happy to see.

"Good afternoon Tanaka." he said, bowing his head respectfully. He turned his gaze back to the miniature house steward, sighed and sat down with his temple against the glass.

"So tell me, what's the damage?"

"Ho ho ho" lamented Tanaka.

Sebastian nodded gravely as the retired butler filled him in on the destruction of the house. The news was shocking.

"Nothing's wrong? How can nothing be wrong?"

"Ho ho ho."

"I... oh dear, I fear I have been too harsh."

"Ho ho ho."

"Do you really think so? Even though they left the manor and spoke poorly of myself and the young master?"

"Ho ho ho."

"Sound advice as usual, Tanaka. As is expected from a Phantomhive butler."

"Ho ho ho."

"Tanakaaaaaa!" came a screech. "We're sorry we forgot you Tanaka!"

The three servants came racing back to retrieve their comrade.

"We're sorry for coming back Sebastian! But we had to get Tanaka! Please don't be angry."

"I'm not. In fact, if what Tanaka tells me is true I am genuinely impressed."

"What?"

"You have yet to destroy the house, so I suppose I should reward you for your efforts."

"Can I get a new flamethrower?" yelled Bard.

"... I know I'm going to regret this. But yes, you may."

"Yes!"

"Oh! Oh! Mr. Sebastian! Can I make the garden into a robot? A big transforming robot!"

"... well, not the entire thing... I will designate an area for you..."

"Thank you Mr. Sebastian!"

"Maylene?" he asked in a seductive voice, "What would you like?"

"I um... uhh... gwaahh!"

"Speak up, I can't understand you."

"I... I don't know! I... can't... gwaa! No more lecherous thoughts!"

"Lecherous?"

"What? I didn't say that! Did I say that?"

"You know Maylene, demons are quite lecherous in nature." he whispered before turning around and grasping a pole in the center of his cage.

The remainder of the evening was filled with blood and screaming. Maylene was never so happy in her life.

XXXXX

"This one goes in a straight line."

"NO! An L shape! This one goes in an L shape!"

"That's too confusing."

"No it's not! You just won't listen long enough to learn the rules!"

"Chess is hard! We should play something more fun Ciel!" Soma whined. "But not hide-and-seek. You're a bad seeker and if you hide I'll never find you because you're so tiny."

"I'm not that short! I'm the normal height for my age!"

"But to me you're still chibi." said the prince, indicating a short height with his hand.

"That's it! I've had enough of you! Leave my room immediately!"

"But Ciel, you promised to play with me!"

"I tried to but you won't pay attention!"

"Let's play another game."

"No."

"I learned this game from Elizabeth the other day. What was it called... Miss Black Buttons or something."

"Miss Mary Mack." Ciel corrected him.

"You know it?"

"Unfortunately"

"Let's play it." requested the prince, kneeling on the floor beside the ornate chess table.

"No."

"Come on Ciel! It's so much fun!"

"No it's not! I refuse to play such childish games."

"But Ciel! It's so much fun! Just one time, please?"

"And then what?"

"Then we can play whatever you want."

"Anything?"

"Anything at all."

"Fine then. One game." agreed the young earl reluctantly as he joined his housemate on the floor.

"Ready?"

"Sure."

"Okay!"

They sang in unison as they crossed their arms and prepared to clap hands.

"_Miss Mary Mack Mack Mack_

_All dressed in black black black..." _

"_With silver buttons buttons buttons..."_

"_She had a knife knife knife _

_Stuck in her back back back..." _

"Ciel! Those aren't the right words!"

"That's the version I like."

"I don't like it! It's too scary!"

"Then we don't have to play."

"But Ciel, you agreed to play with me once!"

"You didn't specify which version. I like this one."

"But I don't like it!"

"Then we won't play."

"Ciel! Please! We don't have to play anything after!"

"Fine. I'll sing your version. Just once."

"But you have to have a penalty for messing up."

"What?"

"We have to sing _both _verses."

"Tch. Fine."

"Okay. No singing the scary one this time, or you'll have to teach me chess again!"

"Fine. Just start."

Once again, they crossed their arms.

"_Miss Mary Mack Mack Mack_

_All dressed in black black black..."_

"Prince Soma." interrupted Agni, who had just appeared in the doorway. "As much as I dislike to cut your fun short, it is getting close to bedtime for the both of you."

"I have to finish my shipping records." opposed Ciel.

"I am dreadfully sorry, Master Ciel, but I can not allow you to stay up late any longer. Sebastian sent me instructions in the mail regarding your regular schedules and I must abide by them. I understand that your business is important, but your health is much more so. If you became sleep deprived and ill due to my own carelessness, Sebastian would be very disappointed in me."

"Tch." Ciel knew there was no way of changing Agni's mind, and therefore no point in arguing. He got up and walked out of the room, silently pondering why butlers were so obsessed with giving him a bedtime. Even Tanaka mentioned it from time to time.

"Remember Ciel! If you sleep, you'll get taller!" called Soma as he was escorted to his room. Ciel growled under his breath. He was average height!

Several minutes later, he was all dressed in his nightclothes and tucked into bed when he realized that it still wasn't dark outside. Upon looking at the clock, he learned it was only 8:30.

Even from miles away, Sebastian was still managing to mess with him.

XXXXX

It's a conspiracy!*knowing glance* I'm on to you, butlers.

Okay, enough of that, you must think I'm crazy...er.

So once again, as usual, thank you to everyone who faved, alerted, reviewed and read. And also a special thank you to kitsuneluvah for the suggestion (servants go to visit Sebastian). I hope I didn't butcher your idea, and if I did, I'm very sorry.

By the way, the version of Miss Mary Mack that Ciel sings in this is real. It's terribly creepy.

For reviews this time, you get Poptarts! Any flavor you want! Even imaginary ones! Please review. Concrit is great, but no flames please.

Ideas and suggestions welcome! I love them! Double Poptarts for those!

Sorry for the long AN and Thank you so much for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroshitsuji or its characters... but I do have boots like Sebastian's.

XXXXX

Sunday.

Normally Sebastian rather liked Sundays. He never got time off, but the world just seemed more relaxed when it rolled around. The young master usually didn't have much work to do, so he was in a better mood, and there was far less verbal abuse. The servants had Sundays to relax, so they wouldn't break as many things. Occasionally when they would go out, people just seemed to be cheerful, and in turn it made Sebastian cheerful as well. He found it to be a pleasant experience.

Unless of course you are trapped in a zoo, all alone, with nobody around except for a couple zookeepers out walking the animals. Apparently they did this once a week to ensure they got enough exercise. He hated to admit it, but he was a little jealous of them.

His specially built habitat was quite spacious, and he had come to like the place, but after almost a week in there, Sebastian was getting a little stir crazy. As a zookeeper strolled by, with a leashed zebra, Sebastian banged on the window to get his attention. He approached the cage with slight hesitance, stopping a few feet from the glass. The employees were still a bit nervous about the demon's presence, but had gotten used to him and the fear was gradually beginning to subside. Sebastian gave him the saddest look he could manage, complete with a soft whimper. The zookeeper sighed.

"I'm sorry, I'm not allowed to let you out unless Earl Phantomhive says so."

Sebastian made his lip quiver at this finality.

"Look, I don't have the authority to let you out."

He whined and clawed wistfully at the glass.

"I'm sorry, I really am."

He forced his eyes to water.

"No no no, don't cry! The earl will be even madder if he thinks I made you cry!" he panicked, "I'll let you out for a few minutes, okay? Just a few minutes, but you have to promise not to tell the earl. Okay?"

He knew that would work. Humans can be silly sometimes.

Sebastian nodded, still making himself pout.

"Just let me put Pamela back and I'll come let you out. But remember, no telling!"

The zookeeper left to bring the zebra back and Sebastian smiled to himself, pleased with his success. He often found humans to be far too sympathetic, but it did have some benefits. All he did was tear up a little and now he got to go outside, albeit briefly. He would have to make it count.

The zookeeper returned several minutes later, zebraless and in possession of the keys to his cage. Sebastian raced over to the sliding door and awaited his savior's arrival. The rock began to part, and the eager demon slipped out before it opened all the way.

"Hey! Where are you going?"

He ran for it, at the highest possible speed. He had to get back there, and he had such limited time. Zipping past all the startled employees and their animal counterparts, Sebastian reached his destination at long last.

All the happiness in the world was before him, sprawled out beautifully on a sturdy yet delicate tree branch.

"Miss Lucinda." he sang sweetly, hand outstretched toward the spotted feline. "Over here, Miss Lucinda."

The leopard gracefully leapt from her resting spot and stalked toward the demon.

"Good morning, Miss Lucinda. Have you been well? I do apologize for my rudeness before. Under normal circumstances, I would never have left so suddenly without explanation."

She growled and bared her sharp teeth.

"I see you are still angry with me. It is perfectly understandable..."

Another growl cut him off.

"Miss Lucinda, I find such language to be offensive. I would suggest you refrain from such unladylike manners."

She snarled and pounced at the metal bars of the cage.

"Excuse me?"

She repeated her insults, with more fire.

"Well, I am thoroughly insulted, Miss Lucinda."

She gave one last biting remark before returning to her tree.

"As if I would ever make a return visit! You shame all cats with your awful manners!"

Lucinda turned her nose up at Sebastian, who returned the favor as he walked away. The crowd of staff parted as they saw him approaching, gaping in mild fear as the demon walked past, muttering to himself.

"How was your time outside?" asked the zookeeper who let him out.

"Hmph."

Sebastian pushed him aside and returned to his cage, still very angry. Landing on his favorite slab of rock, he sat down and wrapped his wings around himself as a signal that he did not wish to be bothered.

XXXXX

"Agni, we're going into town today." Ciel announced as he sat down at the breakfast table.

"Master Ciel, you have gone nearly every day this week! Surely all this travel is becoming tiring."

"I have my monthly appointment with the eye doctor at 12:00."

"The eye doctor? I never knew you needed glasses."

"I don't need _glasses_. I have _one eye_, haven't you noticed?"

Ciel was in a cranky mood this morning.

Somewhere deep in his mind, Ciel felt bad about being mean to Agni. At least until he presented him with a bowl of dark tan mush.

"Agni, what is this?"

"Oat bran porridge, Master Ciel. Sebastian said you eat it on Sunday mornings for breakfast."

"I refuse to eat such a common meal."

"Ahh, Sebastian told me that you would say that. He also told me that if you refuse, I am not to serve you any sweets today."

"Wha... that bastard!"

"Master Ciel! Sebastian is your butler and he cares for you very much! Even in his illness, he cares enough to send me instruction on how to properly care for you! He is truly an amazing man!"

"He's still a bastard!"

"Master Ciel, I apologize but I must make sure that you eat your porridge! Sebastian is my close friend and I must insure his master's health! Please eat, Master Ciel."

Ciel took a small, hesitant spoonful of the mush, and eased it into his mouth a single millimeter before spitting it out.

"I'm not eating this!" he declared. "It tastes like wet sawdust!" 

"Master Ciel, you must finish it if you wish to have your sweets later. Sebastian says you may add some cinnamon if you would like. It might improve the taste."

"Tch. Fine."

Agni took the bowl and added a generous amount of cinnamon before setting it back down before Mr. Grumpy Pants.

Ciel took another small spoonful of the porridge and barely slipped it past his lips before spitting it out yet again.

"That didn't help at all! Now it just tastes like wet sawdust mixed with cinnamon! I can't stand to eat this, Agni!"

"If that is your wish, Master Ciel, I will abide by it." Agni said with a bow. Just as he went to lift the bowl, Soma came bursting in the door with a large box.

"Ciel! Look what came in the mail for us! It's a huge box of chocolates!"

"What do you mean 'us'? It was sent to my house and therefore they are my chocolates."

"But I'm your best friend!"

"I never agreed to that!"

"But Sebastian said to share them with me!"

"Sebastian? Sebastian is in the hospital!"

"It says here in the note."

"Note? Let me see that."

Ciel snatched away the paper in Soma's hand and read the message, which had been scrawled in beautifully floral handwriting.

_Dear Bochan,_

_I figured you would be missing the homemade truffles I make for you on Sunday afternoons, so I took the liberty of sending you a box of them. I had the chocolate shipped directly from Belgium as I usually do, and used hazelnut cream filling for the center. They are lightly dusted with dark cocoa powder and finished with stripes of fine milk chocolate. I hope you enjoy them. _

_Your most humble servant, _

_Sebastian Michaelis_

_PS: But you must finish your oat bran porridge first._

_-S_

"Where does it say anything about sharing?"

"He said to 'enjoy' them, and you can only properly enjoy anything in the company of your best friend."

"I think I can manage it alone." Ciel stated as he took the box

"Master Ciel!" screamed Agni, snatching away he beloved candy. "I can not allow you to eat those, as you have not finished your porridge."

Ciel sneered as his sweets were robbed from him. Sebastian was getting good.

He never wanted to resort to this.

"Agni" Ciel forced out "Bring back that bowl of porridge."

Agni smiled and brought back the bowl. Sebastian never failed to impress him when it came to guiding his master in the right direction.

Ciel was dreading this.

He scooped up the slimy substance and stared it down like a mortal enemy. Holding his nose, Ciel plopped the porridge onto his tongue and swallowed, feeling the slop trickle down his throat. This was going to be a long bowl of porridge.

Spoonful after spoonful, the earl force-fed himself the meal until he was nearly in tears at the horrid taste and texture. He was going to kill Sebastian for doing this. Maybe make him eat a few dog biscuits in the process. He finalized his plan with the last spoonful of porridge, and a diabolical inner smile.

"I'm finished Agni."

"That wasn't so bad, was it?"

"It was. Now I would like my truffles."

"I'm afraid that will have to wait until after your appointment, Master Ciel. It is nearly 10:30 and we must begin traveling now if you wish to make it on time."

Ciel clenched his teeth. He hated being ordered around by his servants.

But he hated Sebastian's 'late speech' even more.

"Very well. Prepare the carriage."

Agni bowed and went off to complete the order.

"It's time to show a demon the true meaning of Hell..." he added with a sneer.

XXXXX

Ciel arrived at the London Zoo gates five minutes before noon, only to be greeted by an empty stretch of pavement. He rattled the gate a few times, hoping to get the attention of the staff before discovering a bell on the side. He hit it a few times and waited before a lanky blond man showed up at the gate.

"Sorry kid, we're closed today."

Without hesitance, he responded

"Don't you know who you're talking to? I am Earl Ciel Phantomhive!"

"Yeah okay kid. Zoo's still closed." The rude zookeeper turned away, and Ciel's face began to redden with fury.

"Oi! Let me in now! I am here to check on my demon!"

"Your demon?"

"Yes! I lent him to you, I demand to see him!"

"Oh, right! They told me you'd be here. Sorry about that kid."

"Open the gate."

The zookeeper let the cranky child in, and took his arm. Of course, Ciel shoved him way.

"Don't touch me so easily!"

"I'm sorry kid. I thought you might need help 'cause... you know."

"What? Because if _what_?"

"You know... because..." he indicated his own eye.

"Stop stuttering and answer me! Why should I need help?"

"... No reason..."

"Tch. Which way to my demon?"

"This way..." he murmured, walking toward Sebastian's cage. Ciel was let in and walked quickly toward his demon.

"Sebastian!" he screamed, "I have a bone to pick with you! Several, as a matter of fact! What are you thinking by mocking me like this?"

Sebastian didn't answer; he simply sat still on the rock, wrapped in his soft black feathers.

"Answer me! Why did you send Agni that schedule? It's ridiculous! I can't go to sleep at 8:30 at night and you know it! And _oat bran porridge_? Where on earth did you get that idea? Also, since when do you make me truffles on Sunday? You've never made them for me in my life except for the one day I have to eat wood shavings to get them! I demand an explanation, Sebastian! Immediately!"

The demon turned around, and Ciel stared in shock. Was Sebastian... upset? What had they done to him?

"Sebastian?"

He answered monotonously, aside from his voice cracking occasionally.

"I sent that schedule to Agni so that you could sneak out at night to come here. I'm sure you're running out of reasons to come to this area of London. I'm sorry for the truffles, I won't make them ever again if they upset you this much. And oat bran porridge is good for digestion, bochan. With your diet, you are likely to develop digestive problems."

"No, the truffles are fine! Please make them! But I don't want oat bran porridge! Ever! It will probably_ give_ me digestive problems! And don't make plans without consulting me first!"

"I apologize bochan... I promise I will try not to upset you again..."

"Sebastian, what's wrong with you today?"

"Oh... Lucinda is angry with me... the zookeeper let me out and I spoke with her..."

"You aren't allowed out! I told you that! And who's angry?"

"Lucinda. The beautiful leopard, bochan. She is very angry with me."

"That's it?"

"Bochan, this is very serious."

"You'll get over it."

"No bochan... I can't stand having her hate me..."

"Sebastian, do you need a friend in here? I'm sure if we ask Grell he will snap out of his coma." Ciel teased.

"No bochan..."

"Get over it, Sebastian. Your cat fetish is creepy."

"..."

"Sebastian, you aren't over it yet."

"... no bochan. No I'm not..."

"Well, get over it by tomorrow."

Sebastian nodded solemnly.

"Also, I will not be returning for a few days. The queen is sending me to a remote village in northern England to investigate some murders. Agni will be assisting me this time, so don't worry."

"Understood..."

"Good. I'll be going now, Agni and Soma think I'm at the eye doctor. Don't cause any trouble, and get over that stupid lion!"

"Bochan, Lucinda is a leopard... and she is smart..." he pouted.

"I suggest you follow her example."

"Yes bochan..."

"... Very well then Sebastian... Goodbye..."

"Yes bochan..."

Ciel left the habitat, shaking his head at the grief-stricken demon. His silly cat obsession was becoming more and more annoying. And it had made him forget about the tongue lashing he was planning in his head on the way there! No matter. He could deliver it at a later date. Perhaps with a side of cute yipping puppies?

As he walked away, Ciel could hear the faint inhuman wailing of his butler as he lamented.

"Stupid demon." he muttered "It's not as bad as oat bran porridge."

XXXXX

Yeah, after watching the last ep of Kuro II, I'm a little pissed at Ciel. I made fun of his eyepatch and made him eat oat bran porridge! I am simply diabolical.

Thank you again to everyone who read, faved and watched. It makes my day so much better!

Please please review! If you do, I will give you... more chapters! Nah, I'll give you those anyway. I'll give you... Ciel's truffles! Yeah! Concrit is fantastic, but no flames please.

Suggestions and ideas are great, and they usually get the next chapter out faster! Please, if you have any, tell me!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I will update soon!


	6. Chapter 6

*Looks up from piles of papers* Oh, um, hey there! ...yeeeaah...about the late update thing...

oTL I'm sorry, I was so excited to do this chapter, got all sorts of great suggestions, thanks to the ever brilliant Female Heero Yuy, and then of course, enter the busiest week of my life. I am going to do my best to start weekly updates again, and thank you for your patience.

Well, on with the story!

Oh, right.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroshitsuji or it's characters.

Now, on with the story.

XXXXX

This was the first time in months that Sebastian had failed to complete an order from his master. It was the next morning, and he still wasn't fully over the Lucinda incident, despite his efforts to forget about it. There had just been so much hatred in those dark, mesmerizing eyes that he simply couldn't push it from his mind. Sebastian feared he had made an enemy of the cat, a fact that pained him in the deepest parts of his black soul.

However, guests would be arriving soon and even though he was all torn up inside, he would have to put up a front for the sake of his reputation. These humans were expecting quite the show from him now that word was spreading around. How would he look if he couldn't deliver at least that?

As people began to arrive outside his cage, Sebastian began the first stage of his little act. Even after a week of performing, he found much enjoyment in staring down the audience and watching their reactions. It was so unbelievably simple, the secret to his pre-show: eye contact. Sebastian had learned that his eyes were probably the most horrifying thing that most of these people had ever seen, and one glance was enough to haunt even the strongest of the bunch. It was an art; a perfect blend of intimidation and mild seduction to get them prepared for his performance.

As the crowd began to grow, he waltzed over to his dancing pole and twirled around it a few times before he was distracted by a most atrocious sound.

Laughter.

He whipped his head around, equally confused and insulted. Standing at the glass, pointing and laughing at him was a notoriously strange child, decked out in his usual combination of booty shorts and thigh highs. Alois Trancy was a terribly unwelcome visitor, however not half as much as the horde of demons he kept at his side.

"Claude, it looks like Ciel has finally found the perfect home for his pet! I always knew he belonged in a cage!" Alois giggled.

"Such a bird could never survive in the wild." chortled Hannah. Sebastian could easily brush off an insult from a human – especially a human as filthy as Alois Trancy – but it irked him to be insulted by one of his own kind. Especially a servant of that little brat. Sebastian snarled and flared out his feathers at the other demons, threatening to rip them apart.

Claude grinned.

"Oh, don't be angry. A pretty bird like you who dances with such radiance shouldn't be in such an ugly mood. But perhaps you're just hungry? Oh, don't worry, you pretty little thing, I'm sure they have plenty of things for you to eat here at the zoo. Good treats for good little pets like you."

"Dance for us, Sebastian! Dance like you do for Ciel!" yelled Alois, banging on the glass of the cage. He continued to laugh manically, until his arm was seized by a zoo employee.

"Young man, what on earth do you think you're doing? We have a strict policy here against bothering the animals! If I see this again, I'll be escorting you out of the park, is that clear?"

Alois sneered and tore his arm away from the man's grasp, but obeyed the request. He wanted to stay and watch Sebastian be helpless a little longer. Ciel Phantomhive's demon was truly...

_Obedient,_ Alois thought. He was so pathetically _obedient _it made him sick.

Or did it make him jealous?

"Claude." Alois began, "Sebastian Michaelis is going this far in attempt to please his master."

He shot his butler a challenging smile.

"How far would you go to please me, Claude?"

Claude, of course, did not answer, causing Alois to turn away in disappointment.

"Tch. I knew Sebastian was cooler than you." he muttered.

Claude drew in his breath quickly in anger. Alois smirked.

"Come, Claude. We will return here later."

The blond boy led his demons to a large building near the entrance of the zoo. He glanced around momentarily before barging into an office, much like another young boy had a week before.

"Wh-what? Another kid? Do kids ever knock anymore?"

"This is urgent!" Alois said, with intense exaggeration.

"What is?"

"Your demon! Haven't you noticed his behavior lately?" he mocked concern.

"Been busy. Haven't had a chance to check up on him in a few days."

"He's lonely. I think we need to give him some company."

"Lonely? I'm not so sure demons can get lonely, kid. Besides, that Phantomhive boy comes every couple days to visit him. I'm glad you care so much, kid, but I think we can handle it." The man turned back to his papers, indicating that this meeting was over.

Alois slammed his hands down on the desk.

"Listen! I am the owner of a demon and I know damn well that yours is miserable!" he shouted, almost causing the zoo owner to fall back in his chair. Alois sighed and forced a look of remorse. "If you are willing to take him, I would like to offer my own demon to keep him company while he's here." Right on cue, said demon entered the office, looking bored as usual.

"Wait, there's another one? What's with little boys and demons? Was there an auction or something?"

"I don't know about the other one, but my Claude is here because he loves me. He would do anything to make me happy; even live in a cage. That's why we are going to take care of that poor demon and make sure he's happy again. It pains our hearts to see it suffer."

Though deeply confused, the grey-haired man couldn't help but believe this boy's story. It made enough sense, and he had experienced enough insanity in the past week that it was perfectly believable.

"If you're sure kid, I'll let him stay."

Alois gasped in joy.

"We did it Claude! Aren't you excited?"

"Of course, danna-sama." he said, the antithesis of delight.

"There is one small problem however."

Alois's excitement ceased.

"What problem?" he said, innocent-looking blue eyes shining with worry.

"Well, introducing new members into a habitat is always stressful for the animals, and..."

"If I may, I believe I have a solution to such a problem." interrupted Claude, producing a small spray bottle from inside his coat and exchanging glances with his master.

Alois smiled, "That is the Trancy butler."

XXXXX

"Vacation! Vacation! We're going on vacation!" Soma sang as he and Ciel rode along in the carriage.

"We're not going on vacation! We're going to investigate murders for the queen."

"Then why would you bring me, your best friend in the whole entire universe, along with you?"

"Because you can't take care of yourself and I need Agni to come along."

"Or is it really because you feel bad about forgetting my birthday and you want to make up for it by taking me on vacation?"

"You're birthday was six months ago!"

"Which means it's almost my half-birthday! It must have been so hard for you keep this trip a secret all this time. Thank you Ciel."

"For the last time, we're not going on vacation! What kind of friend would bring someone to a murder scene as a birthday present anyway?"

"So the murder scene thing was a lie! I knew it!"

Ciel clenched his teeth in annoyance. Why couldn't Soma take a hint? What part of 'murder investigation for the queen' translated into 'surprise half-birthday party for Soma'?

"So Ciel, where are we going?"

"It's a surprise" he muttered, deciding to play along for the moment. Sometimes it was easier to humor the prince in his nonsense than to use logic against him. He never believed it anyway.

The carriage screeched to a halt and moments later, Agni opened the door.

"We're here, Master Ciel. I hope the journey wasn't... Prince, where are you going?"

Soma had flung open the door of his side of the carriage and began running around, looking for his surprise. Moments later, he returned to his seat, dejected.

"This really is a murder investigation, isn't it?"

"That's what I've been telling you!"

"I'll stay here in the carriage and you can bring my present back with you." Soma sighed.

Ciel decided to ignore this comment as he exited the carriage with Agni's assistance. He debated whether or not it would be worth it to just get something for Soma so that he would stop complaining, but then he would have to hear about what a good friend he was for at least the next few days. He couldn't decide which one was worse.

But right now, he had work to do, so Ciel ended his internal debate and walked over to the crime scene. Investigators were standing around a body, taking notes and pictures.

"Master Ciel! Don't go any closer!" yelled Agni, pulling him away.

"Agni, I've seen bodies before."

"I understand, but based on the letter from the queen, I think it would be best if you did not see such a thing. You're having enough trouble sleeping as it is, Master Ciel."

"I have to see it in order to get the right information." Ciel stated, shrugging Agni off and continuing toward the scene. As he neared them, the investigators looked up.

"Can we help you, little boy?" Ciel held himself with such a sense of purpose and such an immunity from the gruesome sight that they didn't even think to shoo him away.

"I am Ciel Phantomhive, I have been sent by the queen." he stated plainly. The investigators were in mild shock, but they recognized the name, which is why they didn't react when he casually took the notes out of the nearest man's hand.

"How many victims in total?" he asked, flipping through several pages.

"Five."

"Five?"

"Yes, five."

"Hmm...has there been any connection established between them?"

"N-no, not anything significant other than the method of killing. Which was..."

"A stab wound to the chest."

"Yes."

"Where have you been finding them?"

"All over town, sir. When we looked into it, they seemed to be headed home. Each was attacked within one kilometre of their residence."

"I see. Seba...Agni, let's go."

Ciel turned and walked briskly back to his carriage, taking the investigation notes with him. The queen had sent him out for_ this_? She usually didn't bother him with cases with so few victims. It was mildly irritating.

Agni opened the door to the carriage and Ciel climbed in, requesting that they go to the inn so that he could look over the case a bit more. He realized moments later that it might not be as feasible as he thought.

"Ciel, do you have my..." Soma began.

"Me getting back in the carriage. That is your present. Happy half-birthday."

For the remainder of the night, Ciel had the pleasure of hearing what a great friend he was.

XXXXX

Even before he was fully conscious, Sebastian knew that he was going to wake up feeling awful. His head was full of cotton, in pain and generally dizzy. He knew he had hit it against the rock when he fell down, and there would likely be a bump there for a while. His entire body felt weak and heavy, and it took a ridiculous amount of effort to move at all. But he knew he couldn't lay here any longer, so Sebastian focused all his energy and slowly his eyelids began to open.

The residue from the zookeepers' spray lingered in the air and stung his eyes. He was tempted to close them again, but there was an awkward sensation in his back, which he simply could not ignore. Forcing himself to sit up, and taking a moment to adjust to the new position, Sebastian went to curl his wings in front of him, only to be met by sharp pain. What was going on? Had the zookeepers done something to his wings too?

Turning his head back, Sebastian's eyes grew wide as he observed heavy strings of white sticking to his poor, helpless feathers. It made him sore to lift them up, and hurt terribly to move them, as the strings pulled at his wings in all different directions.

"Have a nice rest, Michaelis?" chuckled a voice from beside him. Turning toward the speaker, he snarled at his smirking enemy: a gruesome being, decked out in wispy brown and gold fabric, four extra arms folded beneath his original two.

"Claude." he breathed through clenched teeth, "Why did you...put spider webs...on my wings?"

Claude smirked "Now now, we wouldn't want you to fly away, pretty bird. Would we?"

Sebastian narrowed his eyes and emitted a low guttural noise from his throat.

"Not that you could fly to far with those clipped wings."

"May I remind you, we share the same cage?"

"Nearly. But wouldn't the pretty bird rather fly free than crow all day over his misfortune? Being the helpful creature I am, I could set you free. Spiders are known for cleaning out unwanted insects after all."

"Good, for I see one too many unwanted insects in here."

"As do I."

The two glared and sneered silently for several minutes, as Sebastian picked the web off his wings. Such an awful arrangement. What he wouldn't give to have those wretched wolves back.

"Claude! Hahahahaha! Good job Claude!" cheered a certain neurotic blond child who, once again, was banging on the window. Of course, the zoo was closed and there were no zookeepers around to quiet the spider's personal cheerleader. He had likely either seduced or scared them into letting him stay past closing, the wretched child.

"Danna-sama." Claude mused aloud. "A soul not fit for a caged bird."

"Tch. I couldn't imagine why one would want such a junk soul."

"...Perhaps another soul would be more fitting for one such as myself. One more like your bochan? The perfect soul that we demons lust for; so dark and full of hate, yet still able to remain pure. Only the most superior of demons deserve such a soul. One who can not be locked away as easily as yourself, pretty. Shameful that it will go to waste."

Sebastian lunged at the spider demon, officially tired of his commentary. However, his wings were still heavy with strings, and Claude was quicker, jumping above his head into a web he'd attached above the cave. Sebastian growled at him, as it was the only thing he could do with his wings in such a state.

"Oh, what's wrong little crow? Is the spider too fast for you?" he snickered. "Starved little bird can't even catch what's in front of him. Poor pretty thing."

Sebastian chose to ignore Claude at this point, as his ramblings were likely to go nowhere significant. He sat back down on the slab of stone and picked at his wings more, hoping that by the end if the night they would be clean and he could reach (and subsequently kill) Claude.

He might end that brat's life as well, especially if he didn't stop with his obnoxious tittering.

Though, there was one good thing about this arrangement. Ever since Claude and Alois showed up, Sebastian hadn't thought about Lucinda for even a second. It was a little late, but he had completed his order.

XXXXX

Well, I had a ridiculous amount of fun writing Claude there. This is my first time writing the Trancy household, and it was significantly harder than I thought. Please tell me how I did.

And please review! You get candy corn this time, because it's October and they're selling it everywhere! Concrit=woohoo! Flames= no-no.

Ideas, suggestions, requests, etc. are fantastic! Please, if you have any either put it in your review or a pm, and I will do my best to get it in there.

Speaking of ideas, one more huge thank you to Female Heero Yuy for all her suggestions for this chapter! Tons of great dialogue ideas, pointing out obvious mistakes that I missed and general all around ideas for improvement.

And thanks to everyone who read, faved etc!


	7. Chapter 7

I have returned from the deep dark abyss that is senior year! Well, technically I'm still there, but I finally finished this chapter! Very very sorry for the late update, I have been busy applying for college and all that fun stuff. I can't guarantee regular updates anymore, but I'll do my best.

Well, you've waited long enough, so here's the

Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroshitsuji or it's characters

And here is chapter 7.

XXXXX

Ciel threw down the investigation notes and flopped back on the bed, exhausted and strained. He had been studying the notes for nearly an hour, looking at it from every possible angle he could think of, yet had only come up with minor leads. The murders were too scattered, completely disconnected and inconsistent. He needed to get more information – witnesses, alibis, clues of any sort. It was going to be difficult with the little information he had.

"Do you need help, Ciel?" asked Soma, hopping onto the bed beside him.

"Not yours." he grumbled.

Soma picked up the notes and flipped through before declaring, "Whoever did this is evil!"

"Thank you, Soma. That was helpful."

"This is a horrible crime."

"Again, this is helping me so much."

"I'm glad."

Ciel covered his face with his hands and sighed. What would he normally do in this situation? Well, he would send Sebastian out to make a list of suspects, but that method was out. He might go to Undertaker for information if the Yard didn't provide him with enough. Also not possible. Ciel gritted his teeth. He hated that he had such difficulty solving a case on his own.

But he had one weapon left.

"Agni, I have several possible suspects in mind. Find their addresses so that we can find out where they were on the nights of the murders." he demanded. Agni, who had been tidying up the room, smiled at the stubborn young boy.

"I will do that, Master Ciel, but I'm afraid it will have to wait until tomorrow. It is nearing your bedtime and you need to rest."

"This is more important!" Ciel protested.

"Master Ciel, what is most important right now is that you get a good night's sleep. You'll need to be at your best tomorrow in order to solve this case."

Ciel scowled, not bothering to hide his disdain. He wanted to solve this case and please the queen. The last thing he cared about was sleep. But for once, Agni was willing to compromise.

"Master Ciel, if I may, I can get information on the suspects while you and the prince are asleep and you can speak with them in the morning."

"Fine" Ciel forced out. Reluctantly, Ciel allowed Agni to bathe and dress him before the butler set off, leaving the irritated boy to lay awake in his bed for the next hour. This was the finest hotel that the village could offer, but compared to what Ciel was used to, this was like sleeping on pavement. The mattress was poorly constructed; feathers poked out through the thin sheet material and pinched him all over as he tried to find a comfortable position. Rolling over, Ciel discovered that the curtains of this particular room were pointlessly thin, letting in all the glaring light from the street. He flipped himself back over, and then back over again, debating which was worse; needle-like feathers puncturing his skin, or bright lights burning his eyes.

However, both of these options lost their positions on his list of sleep hindering factors when a large bag of feathers came crashing down on his head.

"Gwahh!" Ciel shot up in bed, ready to defend himself the best he could against the intruder, when he was hit again, this time in the chest, causing him to fall back onto the bed, weak lungs struggling to keep in control. He could hear another blow headed towards his body, and made an attempt to roll out of the way. Moments later, he was lying on his back on the floor, staring up at his attacker.

"Ciel, you're supposed to fight back!" ,Soma chuckled, "That's how the game works."

"Game? What _game? You're beating me with a pillow!" _

"It's a pillow fight, silly! We're having a sleepover!"

"What? You sleep at my house every night and this is the first I've heard about pillow beatings!"

"It's what best friends do Ciel! We stay up late and have pillow fights, and tell scary stories and share secrets!"

"I've told you before, I never said we were best friends! Also, I don't want to be hit with a pillow, I don't want to give you nightmares and I would never tell my secrets to you!"

"Oh, so you do have secrets?" Soma teased.

"None that I'm telling you."

_Those would also give you nightmares, _he thought.

"Aww come on Ciel! Tell me! I'll tell you one too!"

"No." Ciel said, pulling himself back into bed. "I want to go to sleep, leave me alone."

"Ciel, I know you have a secret you want to tell me!" Soma declared, "And if you don't tell me, I'll tickle it out of you!"

"You wouldn't _dare._"

Actually he would, and he did.

"Get away from me!" screeched Ciel, as Soma approached, tickle-hands at the ready. Ciel had to act fast. He hated being touched in any way, but tickling was genuine torture. In a panic, he reached for the nearest object and hurled it at the prince.

Soma laughed as the small ceramic cup missed him and landed across the room.

"Silly Ciel! It's called a pillow fight, not a teacup fight!"

He decided that in the end, a pillow fight wouldn't be so bad. Anything was better than tickling.

Ciel grabbed his pillow off the bed and charged at Soma with it held above his head. He grunted as he whacked the prince with it, and felt him stumble backwards. While he was still recuperating from the first hit, Ciel struck again and again. He smiled internally, convinced that he was winning.

Soma smiled as well, albeit externally, thrilled that his friend was having so much fun.

XXXXX

"Pretty bird, pretty bird fly away home. Your house is on fire and your children shall burn. Except for Ciel, your little Ciel, who waits for the day when you drag him to Hell..."

"Are you quite finished?" grumbled an irritated Sebastian.

"No. I'm rather enjoying myself." replied Claude, once again grasping the crow demon's wings and moving them up and down, chanting the nursery rhyme.

Sebastian, of course was not enjoying this, but there was little he could do to help the situation. Claude had been bothering him all night and well into the morning; mocking him, threatening to take away his master, reapplying web to his wings every time he managed to pick it off. There had been moments when his wings were relatively clean, so he could move at his normal speed and attack, but Alois decided that these were fitting times to scream bloody murder and bring all the zookeepers running. He would then tell them all that Sebastian has gone insane and would need to be put down, followed by ten minutes of melodramatic fake crying (which was secretly diabolical laughter).

"The crow is a fine bird, he sings and he flies. He brings evil tidings, but he tells us no lies..."

"Claude." Sebastian said quietly.

"Yes, my little crow?"

"Since you seem so fond if them, would you like to hear one of my favorite nursery rhymes?" Without bothering to wait for an answer, Sebastian whipped his body around, causing one of his wings to knock Claude on the side of the head.

"The itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout..." he chanted, crawling forward on his knees "Out came the rain and washed the spider out." Sebastian wrapped a hand around his neck and squeezed.

Claude chuckled. "If you recall, pretty bird, the spider is victorious in the end."

Once again, Alois's screams could be heard echoing outside the cage, and Sebastian was pushed backwards, rendered helpless once again.

"And I thought crows were supposed to be intelligent animals." he sneered, watching as Sebastian struggled to push himself back up. "Such a humiliation to your kind."

"I swear, he even dances sometimes! It's great!" yelled a voice from the other side of the glass.

"My, my." Sebastian smiled "It appears my audience has arrived."

"What are you talking about, Michaelis?"

"The humans. They demand entertainment." he smirked, "Unfortunately, I cannot give it to them now that your webs are weighing me down. Whatever shall we do?"

"No, Michaelis." Claude stated, knowing what Sebastian was implying, "You may be a sellout and an attention whore, but I for one refuse to stoop to your level."

"Then we are in quite a predicament. Unless of course you release me."

"Never."

"We can't deny the people what they want, Claude."

"We most certainly can!"

"I hear you are quite the dancer."

"Not like _you_!"

"Oh Claude, I am flattered, but I'm sure my skill is nothing to compete with."

"Sebastian Michaelis, I will..."

"Claude! Claude, why are you just sitting around there? Claude!" screamed Alois, aware of his butler's predicament. "Dance for me, Claude!"

Claude wasn't going to dance. Not for these humans, or for his master. Not for entertainment purposes.

But he did find that dancing was a good way to mark a victory over an enemy.

He would dance to that.

XXXXX

"Why were you out so late at night? What could a butcher possibly need to do at midnight on a Thursday?"

"Well, you might be a bit young..."

"Continue."

"Alright! I've been going out all week to..."

"_Stop right there! I know what you're saying and I don't like it!" _screamed the seventeen year old child as he burst into the conversation. Ciel put a hand over his face and shook his head.

"Soma, this is the last time I'm going to tell you. Stop interrupting or I will make you wait in the carriage."

"But Detective Ciel! You need me by your side! Together we can solve this case!"

"Soma, you don't even know what we're talking about."

"_Detective_ Soma!"

"Prince, perhaps you should let Master Ciel continue with his investigation. He has a very important job to do." suggested Agni, as if speaking to a toddler.

"But together..."

"Prince..."

Realizing that his butler was being serious, Soma agreed to remain quiet while Ciel interviewed the suspect.

"Continue." Ciel prompted.

"Right. As I was saying... I've been going out at night."

"Yes. I believe we've established this. What I need to know is where you are going and why several neighbors reported you returning home covered in blood."

"Alright! Alright! The shop hasn't been doing so well! I've been going out at night getting whatever I can! I've been killing raccoons, cats, snakes and even a sheep or two from a nearby farm! I'm sorry Earl Phantomhive! There's just been such a shortage lately at the shop and I have two little girls! What else could I do?"

Ciel leaned back in his chair and sighed. A waste of time.

"Please Earl Phantomhive, don't report me to the queen! She'll have my head for this!"

"The queen has more pressing matters to attend to. Soma, Agni, let's go."

"That's _Detective_ So-."

"You aren't helping!"

"I tried to! You wouldn't let me!"

As the two bickered, Agni thanked the butcher for his honesty before joining the prince and the earl outside.

"So Ciel, he didn't do it?" asked Soma.

"No, weren't you paying attention?"

"A good detective always pays attention!"

"Yes, that's the difference between you and them."

Ciel flipped through his notes and crossed off yet another name from the suspect list. Many of them had perfectly believable alibis, and third parties to confirm them. As great as this was for those people, it was doing nothing to help the young Phantomhive boy and his 'brilliant detective friend'. He felt he should approach another angle.

"Agni, did you happen to find out where the local mortician is?"

"I did, but I don't feel that..."

"I've been to Undertaker's shop many times before, it won't be a problem." Ciel retorted. "Though hopefully the one up here possesses a certain level of sanity."

XXXXX

"Erm... sir... I know I'm not exactly an expert on demons but... doesn't that look... you know... painful?" asked the freckled zookeeper as he watched the demons in the cage.

"What?" Alois responded, keeping his eyes on his butler.

"Well, erm... your demon is sort of... "

"They're playing." he sang, flashing the zookeeper an angelic smile before turning back to the cage. He fought to hold back his laughter as he watched Claude skillfully tap dancing on Sebastian's back.

"Are you sure? Earl Phantomhive's demon looks unhappy."

"Didn't you hear me? I said they're playing." Alois stated with finality.

The zookeeper knew that his knowledge of demons was extremely limited, but he had worked at this zoo long enough to know when animals were playing and when they were attacking. Even after Alois's insistence, he knew this was not a game.

"L-Lord Trancy... I... I don't mean to b-bother you but..."

"You are." he smiled "Very much."

"I-I'm so so s-sorry Lord T-Trancy... but..."

"Wh-wh-what? Y-you sh-should st-stop st-st-stuttering." Alois mocked. "Really, I can't believe someone like you is taking care of my demon."

The zookeeper took a deep breath and cursed himself for his stupid nerves. This was a child, a _child!_ A noble child, and one with much more influence and authority than he could ever dream of, but still a child. And he was letting an innocent(?) creature be tormented. No one should stand for that! Doing his best to push away his fear, the zookeeper straightened up and spoke as authoritatively as possible.

"Lord Trancy, this has to stop! The director will not put up with this and neither will I!" he shouted, "I don't think Earl Phantomhive will be too pleased either."

Alois eyed the nervous zookeeper with skepticism, and snorted a laugh. He knew there was nothing the zookeeper or director could do to stop him from torturing Sebastian. Ciel, however, was another story. Alois knew that he would be back, and he had been waiting for an excuse to move the demons out of this zoo. He decided this was a good chance.

"Fine then. If you can't respect demon behavior, I can just take them elsewhere." he shrugged.

"What? N-no! Earl Phantomhive will be..."

Alois reached into his pocket and whipped out an envelope labeled "Phantomhive".

"I predicted you would mistreat my demon, so I wrote this letter. All the details are in there, I expect it mailed by the time I leave." Alois stated, placing the letter in the hand of the startled zookeeper.

"Claude!" he yelled to his butler, making a hand motion as if spraying a bottle. Claude nodded and spritzed Sebastian with the tranquilizer spray he had used before, continuing to dance even after he was unconscious.

Alois giggled at the sight momentarily, but resumed his serious expression when he looked back at the zookeeper, who was still standing there in confusion, letter in hand.

"Well? Go send it! And I'll need someone to prepare my carriage immediately. Do it quickly, or else Claude might become bored enough to attack a few of your animals."

Recognizing the reality of the threat, the young man rushed off to meet the demands of the Trancy boy.

Alois waited until the zookeeper was out of sight before he released his pent up laughter, earning him a few stares from the surrounding zoogoers. It was too funny. His wish had been to take Ciel Phantomhive away from Sebastian Michaelis in order to cause the demon a pain worse than death. Now by taking Sebastian away, he would cause that pain for them both. He continued laughing as he walked toward the entrance of the demon habitat, mind spinning with ways to torment Sebastian.

XXXXX

Phew. That took so much longer than I expected.

Please tell me if I made mistakes, particularly with continuity.

The nursery rhymes that Claude is saying are 'Ladybird Ladybird' and 'the cuckoo's a fine bird', but I changed the words to make it fit.

Reviews are greatly appreciated, concrit only please, no flames. Ideas and suggestion are great too.

Thank you so much for reading, and thank you for being patient.


	8. Chapter 8

TL

O

Please forgive my disappearance. Explanation is in the AN after the story.

This chapter gets strange (as if that's new) and violent. I think I might raise the rating to T.

I own nothing except the plotline.

XXXXX

Ciel followed Agni through the winding streets until they arrived at a dingy little shop on the far corner of the village. It was small, lined with coffins and surrounded by a heavy fog of mortality. It had seen more deaths lately than it was used to, and many more than it should have.

"Here we are, Master Ciel." Agni stated, indicating the shop with the arm that was not being occupied by the prince. He was standing behind his butler, clinging onto him, clearly frightened by the shop. Ciel had figured that this would happen, and offered to go into the shop alone.

"No!" protested Soma, switching his grip from Agni's arm to Ciel's. "We will do this together. We are the best friend detective team, and we work together!"

Ciel sighed, knowing that Soma would only provide more of a hassle for his investigation. He became more irritated when the prince added "And I know that you must be scared going into that place. But don't worry, we will be there together."

Agni opened the door to the shop, and Ciel entered first, with Soma bravely trailing along behind him.

The inside was equally morbid as the outside, dust still clinging to the shelves, coffins, and abandoned cobwebs. There was a distinct stench of preservative in the air, almost to the point that it was nauseating. Jars of formaldehyde lined the walls, mostly empty, but a select few contained sickly looking organs. Beside the jars were animals, stuffed and preserved in various poses. Apparently he dabbled in taxidermy, making him already stranger than Undertaker in Ciel's book.

"See, Ciel? This isn't so scary is it?" Soma said with a slight shaking in his voice.

"I wasn't scared! You were! Where is the undertaker?" Ciel asked impatiently.

As soon as he asked, Ciel spotted a rusty bell sitting on the front counter, covered in dust and other untold filth. A faded piece of parchment in front of it faintly read 'ring for service', though he was sure no one had done so for ages. He rang it once and immediately jumped away from the putrid thing, nose scrunched up and mouth open in horror as he observed the sticky black grime coating his fingers.

"Hello?" came a whisper to his right.

"Gyaaa!" Ciel shouted, eyes wide with shock as he jumped back from the noise. A man's head and one gloved hand had appeared out of a door on the wall. The door had been practically invisible, and none of the three visitors had noticed it until now; the old man appeared to have popped out of thin air.

"How can I help you today?" said the mortician. His head was soon followed by an emaciated body, which walked behind the counter and began to spray the bell with an obnoxious amount of chemicals.

Ciel's breathing slowed down after a moment, and he regained his composure. It appeared Soma would take longer, considering he had returned to using his butler as a shield. Ciel told Agni to take Soma outside, as he could (and preferred to) handle things himself.

Looking back to the shop's owner, the earl wondered momentarily what kind of person bursts out of a hidden door and frightens people like that, but then he remembered what kind of shop this was. Ciel groaned inwardly; the undertaker out here was just as mad as the one back home.

"Sir, I am here on behalf of the Queen to investigate..."

"Would you like a peppermint?" asked the old man, holding out a dusty basket of sweets, staring with eagerness and terror into the young boy's eyes. It was as if his entire life was practice for this moment; or rather, training. From his behavior, the man might have been staring at an ax-wielding madman rather than a child with a stubborn streak, and this candy was the only thing that kept him safe.

"Erm..." Ciel stared at the basket, almost frightened to go near it. The peppermints were just as filthy as the rest of the store, moldy in appearance and probably went bad before the boy was born. Hell, they probably went bad before Sebastian was born by the look of them. Ciel did not want to go within ten feet of the candies, never mind take one. Consuming one of the little monstrosities was entirely out of the question. But he needed information, and this mortician seemed unusually determined to give him these mints. He smiled, took one, and shoved it deep into his pocket. He could throw it away later. Far far away.

Ciel began again, "As I was saying, I am here on behalf of the Queen to investigate the recent string of murders in this town. I will need all the information you can provide me with."

The old man shook his head. "I will need compensation."

Ciel momentarily went blank. Sebastian usually took care of the 'compensation'.

"I don't know any jokes offhand, but if you go to the London zoo you can see my butler pole dance. If you would like I can..."

The mortician's eyes bulged at the offer, and immediately Ciel realized his fault. It was either his lack of decent sleep, the atmosphere, or the fact that he was still recovering from the strangeness of the proprietor, but he had forgotten that 'normal' undertakers want money, not jokes. Without another word, he reached into his change purse and placed several coins on the counter.

"No, no put them in here." said the man, holding out a small jar. Ciel moved the coins to the jar, where the mortician doused them in more chemicals, and dumped them into a larger jar behind him.

Ciel began again,"I need information about the murders in this village. You must know something about it."

The mortician's eyes became wide. "I do, but I am not going to reveal the details to a..."

"I've already seen one of the victims." Ciel snapped, becoming increasingly annoyed with people being concerned about exposing him to 'horrors'. "I need any information you have. Her Majesty wants me to solve this case, and I intend to do so. What can you tell me?"

The old man fidgeted for a moment, appearing nervous in the child's presence. He avoided looking Ciel in the eye; in fact, he avoided looking at Ciel altogether. When he spoke, he spoke to inanimate objects, ranging from the bell on the front counter to the organs on the shelves.

"The first murder happened several weeks ago, early in the morning. I was just about to prepare supper when..."

"You mean breakfast?"

"What? Oh yes, that is what I meant. I first got the delivery early in the morning. It was about a week ago."

"You said it was several weeks ago."

"Does it matter? It happened at least a week ago in the morning. I got the body then, and I noticed that there was a hole in the poor man's chest."

"The first victim was a woman."

"Yes, yes, I remember. She was a very kind woman, very sweet."

"Did you know her personally?"

"No."

Ciel began to contemplate this statement and formulate a response when the phone rang on the far side of the counter. The mortician rushed to pick it up, and answered with a friendly "Hello." before immediately hanging up. The boy found this to be both very strange and very rude, but he decided not to say anything about it. He figured that the sooner he got the information and got out of here, the better.

"Sir, have you noticed any patterns in the killings at all?"

"Patterns? No, no I do not see any patterns."

"Did you know any of the victims personally? Or did any of their family members provide you with any information about them?"

"No, no I never talk to any of the family members. It's a waste of time, and it can not help me with my work. They always make silly requests like having an open casket. I simply take the measurements and build the coffins, then I nail them shut."

"Are all these coffins for victims?" Ciel asked, indicating the caskets surrounding the shop. They were all of different sizes and widths.

"No. These I built ahead of time. I like to be prepared."

"I see. Do you have any records I could look at?"

"Yes, but I don't believe they will be of use to you." the man said, handing Ciel a few disorganized sheets of paper. "Is there anything else you need?"

"No. This will be fine. Thank you."

"Come back again." said the mortician, back turned toward a nearby washbasin as Ciel turned for the door.

"Were you successful, Master Ciel?" asked Agni when they met up outside. Ciel shuffled the yellowing papers in his hands and smiled inwardly.

"I believe I was."

XXXXX

Sebastian was becoming increasingly tired with this situation.

He had been knocked unconscious and moved around so many times in the past week that he was beginning to understand how his young master must feel when kidnapped. However, his master's situation was much better than his own, since he didn't have to deal with that tap dancing spider butler and his poor excuse for a meal. They were both terribly irritating, so much to the point that Sebastian had made a scene in front of the zookeepers just so he could get away from Claude. It was only half successful; they were now in separate cages, but the new ones were very small, and attached to each other. Claude could no longer tap dance on his back, and he had finally gotten his feathers clean (and tucked them immediately into his back to avoid being webbed again) but of course, there was always Claude's relentless chatter.

"So this is Ciel Phantomhive's butler? One so easily kidnapped by a child can never deserve that title. Not only do you disgrace the Phantomhive butler's name, but also the name of demon. You are a poor excuse for both, Sebastian Michaelis."

_Scuttle. _

Sebastian's eyes snapped over when he heard the soft scampering against the dirt floor. A sharp intake from the neighboring cage did not break his eye contact with the tiny creature. It only caused him to smirk as he walked his fingers along the ground in a blatant mockery of his prey. His hand danced around the arachnid for a moment, teasing it with skillful dexterity before bringing a sharp fingernail down and puncturing its abdomen. He brought the spider up so it was level with his eyes, and seeing that it was still, slid it off and tossed it unceremoniously into the corner of his cage.

The spider demon forced himself not to tear his cellmate apart; he was terribly protective of his animal representation, as are all demons, but refused to react to such a lowly action. Claude masked his anger with a scoff.

"This is your retaliation, Sebastian Michaelis? Are you so weak that your only strategy to taunt me is killing bugs?"

_Arachnids, _Claude corrected in his head.

Sebastian smirked in response. "Retaliation? For what exactly? Your irritating chitter chatter? It's become nothing but white noise to me, as well as your empty threats. You know as well as I do that if you lay so much as a finger on my young master, you will be joining your dear little spider friend in the dirt. I assume that is where spiders go when they die, correct?"

_Spiders go to Spider Hell when they die._

"Dirt is far better than wherever you will be going. A pathetic thing like you doesn't deserve the luxury to lie with dead insects in the dirt."

The demons' conversation was cut short by the arrival of a certain snotty blond child.

"Yes?" said Sebastian impatiently.

"Don't 'yes?' me like that." hissed Alois.

"Very well then."

"You're coming with me."

"No."

"You can't refuse."

"If I am not allowed to agree with you, what am I to do? You said I can't say 'yes', and the only option left is to refuse"

Alois clenched his teeth. "You belong to _me _now! You have to do what _I say!_" he screeched, like a child trying to command his parent.

"You believe that a common brat has power over me? I don't take orders from people like you. Nothing more than a mockery, a beggar who has stolen a few fancy trinkets."

Sebastian was in a bit of a dilemma; he wanted to get out of this place oh so desperately, but refused to cooperate with "Earl Trancy". He would never submit to a human's request other than his own master's. He wasn't some show dog who could be paraded around against his will, and it was likely that Trancy had just that planned for him. No, it was probably much better to stay here, maybe kill a few more spiders until he got a reaction out of Claude.

Of course, Alois wouldn't have his new captive disobey him. In a display of his maturity and nobility, he backed up from the cage, ran forward and booted Sebastian in the chin, sending dirt and dust flying all around. Sebastian let out a low chuckle. That kick almost tickled.

Now officially out of attacks, Alois turned to his last option.

"Claude, do something!"

"What do you wish that I do, your highness?" he hissed.

"I don't _care_, Claude! Just do _something!"_

Claude was visibly indifferent to his master's command, and after 48 hours next to a demon he loathed, he wasn't particularly interested in serving the person who put him there. He mentally sent out a quick command to his subordinates.

Hannah and the triplets crashed through Sebastian and Claude's joint cage, pushing their target against the wall and slashing at him ferociously with their weapons of choice. The crow demon retaliated immediately with all his strength, managing to throw off two of the triplets and maiming one of Hannah's arms. But of course, by this time Claude had gotten free of his cage and tackled him down to the ground, snapping his joints to temporarily prevent movement. Alois watched outside the cage, mildly amused.

Those who were still mobile carried Sebastian, twisted with injury, past cages of animals and crowds of visitors, eliciting reactions of curiosity and horror. They stared, wondering how such a fractured looking person could be so quiet; it must have been immensely painful, but he didn't make a sound. He seemed more focused on retaliating, and succeeded in a few instances. Though his limbs were for the most part broken, he was able to twist himself into the perfect position to bite. His carriers would not reach their destination without blood and scars on their torn flesh.

They dumped him into a fenced in area, forcing him down again. Sebastian felt a sharp strike to his back, which activated his reflex to release his wings. He heard bones cracking, and seconds later felt a sharp pain at the base of his wings, and then a stringy, sticky sensation around his wound. Of course Claude would target his wings, as usual. At least this time he kept them clean, even if they were forced to stay out. He was forced to sit up, hands still being held behind his back.

Sebastian growled deep in the back of his throat, followed by a harsh hiss; something widely understood by demons to be more than a death threat. It was closer to a death promise. He opened his mouth to speak this promise aloud, but Hannah squeezed his throat with her good hand, cutting off his breath.

"Now now, pretty bird. You must mind your manners around the guests." whispered Claude, stroking his hair in a mockery of comfort. Hannah loosened up on his throat, but still kept a hand there should he try to speak again.

People crowded around the fence, hesitant and curious. Children sucking on lollipops or thumbs stood on their toes to get a peek at the strange man-creature, as parents tried to usher them back, appearing to be cautious, but only wanting a look for themselves. Some of the bolder guests inched into the area, eager to get close to the demon.

"Don't worry, he won't hurt you. He was a little scared about moving to the petting zoo, but he's feeling better now." Claude smiled (a disturbing thought in itself).

Petting zoo? _Petting zoo? People are going to come in here and touch me?_

"Can I pet his feathers?" whispered a little girl timidly. "They look soft."

_No no no no no! You can't touch them! Nobody can touch them! _

"Of course you may." said Claude.

The little girl stepped closer to Sebastian and shimmied around to his back. She stretched out a tiny hand and gave a tentative brush to the tip of his wing before rapidly stroking back and forth across the black feathers.

_She's going to tear them out! _

"He's nice."

Others quickly followed suit, petting his wings and coating them with their wretched human oils. Shivers began darting up and down his spine as Sebastian thought of the horrible damage that was being done to him. His poor, precious feathers could never bounce back from something like this.

To make it just a bit more disturbing, Sebastian could see Claude and Alois whispering over the fence, no doubt about some other plan to torment their poor captive.

XXXXX

"Have you found anything yet, Master Ciel?" Agni asked, handing Ciel a cup of tea.

"I'm not quite sure yet... his records are fairly scattered. Everything is mixed together, so I'm not sure exactly what I'm looking at."

"That's because I'm not there looking with you." whined Soma. Ciel had forbidden him to come to his side of the room while he was working. "We're supposed to be brother detectives!"

"You haven't helped me once! And why are we brothers all of a sudden?" he snapped, copying down some information from the documents. It was difficult, as there was very little pattern to it. Financial records, body arrival and departure records, coffin building records; there was no separation to anything. Ciel had to write everything down again just so it would make sense, and he was losing time.

Unfortunately, even when separate, the records made very little sense. The financial records did not seem to match up with the number of bodies he had in an average week. Even with the murder spree, there still wasn't enough to justify buying 200 kg of wood and certainly not enough to justify 500 kg of gypsum powder. The gypsum was a mystery, as he didn't seem to have many things to preserve through taxidermy.

Ciel's eyes widened.

He had said that he didn't do open casket. He seemed to be afraid of people. Was it possible that...

"Agni, we need to go back to the undertaker's shop." Ciel said, scrambling for his coat and hat. "Contact the police force as well."

"Master Ciel?"

"I know who the killer is, now let's go!" Ciel snapped, going on ahead to the mortician's shop, and the end of this case.

XXXXX

I am so sorry for disappearing for so long. My life has been hectic, and I barely had time to do any writing whatsoever. Senior year is murder, and so is working at a place that doesn't listen to a word you say, or appreciate you at all. I have had a few other issues, brain wise and family/friend wise. I quit my job (which was causing _so many _problems) and now I feel much better. But of course it doesn't stop there. I finally got to about page 6 of this chapter, and then my computer got a virus and all my documents were completely wiped out.

Again, I am terribly sorry for taking so long to update.

But on a happier note, I have 4 weeks left of high school! YAY!

Oh, and a thank you to Female Heero Yuy, the petting zoo was her idea.

Thank you so much for being patient. I really hope this wasn't a disappointment after all this time.

And remember, reviews are a writer's crack.


	9. Chapter 9

Ciel burst into the undertaker's shop with Agni, Soma and the town's small police force behind him, barking orders at them as they passed through the store.

"You, detain him for questioning! You, search the front room, and you search the back! Soma, stay outside and make sure nobody comes in or out without an officer, we can't have any accomplices sneaking around!" He doubted that this would be a problem, but he had a decent idea of what they were dealing with, and didn't want the prince to be up for the next week having nightmares.

"Earl Phantomhive!" shouted the officer in the back room, "It's... they're..."

Ciel immediately walked toward the back room, with Agni close behind him. He recognized the sound of panic, and figured that the man had found the bodies, just as he had expected.

The back room carried a potent stench of chemicals, and the floor was coated in white dust, which Ciel assumed was the gypsum powder that had been on the shipping records. However, he didn't bother to investigate the substance; his attention was concentrated on the stunned police officer and what he had found in the back room.

Ciel had seen cases like this before. He had dealt with disturbed people preserving bodies, and others making them into dolls for that matter, but it was still unnerving to see how far this man had gone. The dead had been manipulated and sculpted into lifelike positions, as if time has frozen in the room. The glass eyes were so realistic that Ciel half expected them to blink, or begin to water from being open for so long. There were two seated around a table, silently laughing, while another smiled and waved in a corner and the last was still laying on the table, waiting to be desecrated.

"It's as I expected." said Ciel. "He's been killing and preserving them for company. He was planning to kill more, which is why he bought such large amounts of supplies."

"Master Ciel..." said Agni, dumbfounded by his coldness.

"He wanted to keep them looking alive, which is why he stabbed them in the chest. It is easy to cover up with clothing. He is afraid of living people, but since he does not need to interact with these corpses, they work as the perfect company for him. Make sure he is arrested immediately."

"... y-yes Earl Phantomhive..." the officer said, bolting towards the front of the shop.

Ciel followed him, intending to leave as soon as possible. He was rather frustrated at the moment, considering the low difficulty level of this case. Though he was the queen's guard dog, and loyally served her, he couldn't help but feel annoyed that he was sent all the way out here for something that the police force could have figured out by themselves in a few more days.

He nodded to the police officers, indicating that the case was finished before turning his back to them, and the mortician, who was screaming and shouting about saying goodbye to his 'family'.

"Such a ridiculous thing. A person so desperate for company as to make their own family out of corpses... pathetic."

"Master Ciel?" Agni whispered, concerned at how casual the child was about the disturbing revelation, and even more concerned about his comments. He understood that Ciel didn't have a family, and had proven that he can function on his own, but he couldn't understand his indifference. What the man had done was awful, but Ciel's reaction was cause for worry.

"It's not our concern anymore, Agni. Let's go back to the hotel, I want to get home by this evening."

"Yes, Master Ciel."

As they exited the shop, Soma leapt forward, declaring loudly "We did it, Detective Ciel!"

"You don't even know what happened." snapped Ciel. He was particularly frustrated at the moment, and was in no mood to deal with such a childish person. He pushed past the prince and walked on ahead towards the hotel.

XXXXX

By nightfall, Ciel and his temporary housemates arrived in London. Ciel had finished writing back to the queen during the ride home (a pleasantly smooth ride, since Agni was a considerate driver who didn't 'accidentally' drive over large rocks) and planned to mail it before immediately going to bed. He figured he could rest tomorrow, go check on Sebastian the day after, and finally get caught up with the paperwork that undoubtedly had piled up over the past few days.

But then again...

Considering the amount of trouble his demon had gotten himself into lately, it was highly likely that either the zoo was in shambles, or Sebastian had picked up some new disturbing 'performance' medium. He had better go check on him before he caused some sort of law suit.

Unfortunately, it was almost time for the zoo to close, and at the moment there was no acceptable reason to go there. It would look fairly suspicious if he spontaneously decided that he wanted to go to the zoo after a case, and he didn't want Agni and Soma to learn about Sebastian's true nature. Of course, he could just have their memories altered after the month was up, but the next two weeks would be torture if they knew.

Ciel wracked his brain for a few minutes about how he could get to the zoo without being suspicious. He couldn't use the appointment excuse like he usually did, and there was enough food at the house to last them a week so he couldn't request a shopping trip.

He remembered something that happened to him in that area a few months ago. Someone who disagreed with the Queen threw stones at his carriage as he passed through town. It was no one particularly dangerous, just a young man who felt that attacking the Phantomhives would help his situation. Ciel didn't bother pursuing the matter, but decided that it would be a decent excuse to go off now.

He glanced over to the other side of the carriage, where Soma was sleeping in his seat. Ciel took his coat and gently covered the prince's face. It would buy him a few seconds after he woke up. The young earl mussed up his own hair slightly in order to make it look as if he had just woken up, and when he was sure that he wouldn't get caught, Ciel slipped off one of his shoes, took it in his hand and smashed the window.

"Gyaaah!" Prince Soma shrieked as he awoke, fighting Ciel's jacket off of his head. It allowed Ciel just enough time to put his shoe back on and pretend to be shocked.

"Ciel! Ciel! Are you okay?" screamed the prince, suddenly on the other side of the carriage squeezing the younger boy in his arms. "Ciel!"

"I'm fine, except for you screaming in my ears and suffocating me! Let go!" Of course, he did not.

"My prince!" hollered Agni, who had stopped the carriage and leapt down at the sound of Soma's scream. "Are you hurt? Is Master Ciel alright?"

"We're fine." Ciel managed through Soma's death squeeze. "Someone attacked the carriage. It's happened before. I will go talk to the police, you two stay here."

"Ciel needs protecting! We can't leave him alone out there, Agni!" protested the prince.

"Master Ciel, he is right. It is getting dark out, and there is a criminal on these streets looking for you. We should all go together to the police station. It is the safest way."

Ciel could see no way out of this. There was no way that he could get to the 'police station' with these two tagging along. He would have to come up with some sort of excuse to get to the zoo by the time they got to the police station, and as Ciel had proven in the past few weeks, excuses were not his strong point.

"Yes... let's go then." Ciel agreed reluctantly.

They took the carriage down to the police station as proof, and requested to see the inspector

who was on duty that night. The moment he stepped out of his office to greet them, Soma bolted over to him and grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Mister police man! A horrible crime as been committed! Someone tried to kill my little brother Ciel! We have to catch this person! My little brother's life depends on your work!"

Ciel covered his face with his hand at this display of immaturity, and slowly walked forward to save the poor officer. "Let go of the inspector, idiot!" he commanded "And stop telling people ridiculous things! Since when was I your brother?"

"Since you are in grave danger, you will need more than just a best friend to protect you! I will be your brother now, and look after you."

"As if I would ever need looking after! Especially not from someone like you!"

Well... Sebastian looked after him of course... but that was beside the point!

"Earl Phantomhive, please calm yourself." said the inspector much to Ciel's annoyance (he was not the one who needed calming!), "If this is about the incident the other day at the zoo, I assure you that everything is taken care of."

Soma began to shout again, saying that he was wrong and that Ciel was attacked by evil men who wanted to kill him, but Ciel's attention was so fixed on the officer that there might have been a beam of energy connecting the boy's eyes with the inspector's. "What are you talking about? What incident?" he shouted but immediately collected himself and said "Inspector, I believe it would be best if we spoke in your office." he turned back toward Soma to add "Privately."

"Of course. Follow me."

Ciel followed the policeman into a small room off to the side, made sure the door was shut tight, and sat down opposite the desk. He could only imagine what this 'incident' was, and he honestly didn't want to think about what might have happened. With his luck it probably involved cats again, or something equally ridiculous.

"So, Earl, you were attacked on the street?" asked the inspector.

"What? Oh that, don't worry about it. I broke the window with my shoe on purpose. Now tell me what my butler did so I can strangle him!"

"Erm... you broke your own window? Why did you... "

"It isn't important why I did it, right now what's important is that my butler got himself in more trouble and I want to know what he did!"

"... you broke your own window... was it to prove a point to your brother?" asked the inspector, still deeply confused as to why the Phantomhive boy would do something so senseless. And what did his butler have to do with this?

"I told you, he isn't my brother! Now me tell what happened at the zoo!"

"It's all taken care of, Earl. No need to..."

"What. Happened. Tell. Me. Now!" Ciel gritted out.

"Just someone harassing that demon you donated. I think it was a zookeeper, wasn't treating him properly or something. Don't you worry about it, that friend of yours took care of it."

"Friend?"

"Yeah, the little blond one. I forget the name"

"You mean Elizabeth?"

"No, no not her. That kid... Tranch... erm... Kanty... what was it..."

Ciel turned to stone in his seat and whispered "Trancy... Alois Trancy..."

"Yes! Him, Alois Trancy. He came in and reported the incident to me, told me that if you stopped by that he has it all taken care of and … what's his name... your demon is all safe with him and... his butler. I'm terrible with names..."

"Sebastian!" exclaimed Ciel, jumping out of his chair and rushing out of the office, as the inspector shouted "Oh, Sebastian! That was his name!"

"Idiot." Ciel muttered to himself as he met back up with Soma and Agni.

"Master Ciel, is something..."

"We have to go right now."

"What happened? Do you know who..."

"They will deal with our attackers by themselves." Ciel told the butler, walking quickly toward the carriage. "Right now we have something more important to investigate."

XXXXX

_Revolting... I feel so disgusting... ugh, this is awful!_

Sebastian sat by himself in the petting zoo, completely still and silent as he watched the final few horrid, nasty, evil little children and their sticky, sweaty, oily hands leave his personal torture chamber. He. Felt. Disgusting. He had spent his entire day sitting in this pen, being touched all over by humans, and being periodically immobilized by Claude and his minions. His skin felt wet and greasy, and he didn't dare look at his poor wings. He had seen more than a handful of people take a souvenir feather, and completely ignore him when he told them (well, maybe 'screamed at them' is more a more accurate phrase) not to take his feathers (or any other part of him for that matter).

"What's the matter, pretty little blackbird?" said a voice from behind him, though not the one he would expect to say such a thing. Sebastian turned his head slightly to see Alois Trancy sitting on the fence around the petting zoo. "Are you lonely? I can keep you company." The boy hopped down off the fence and trotted over to the demon in the center of the circle. He sat down on the ground next to him (making it obvious that he wasn't of noble birth) with his feet out in front of him.

"So, are you unhappy here? Are you miserable? Do you miss Ciel Phantomhive? Tell me all about it!" giggled Alois, kicking his feet up a few inches and stomping them back against the ground.

Sebastian chose not to respond, since he knew that his misery would only please the boy. He had learned to block out offensive noises while working at the manor, and put this skill to good use, choosing to count the leaves on a nearby tree rather than listen to the child ramble.

"Look at your poor little feathers. They look like that stuff that they dump out of grease traps." he said, taking one between his fingers and yanking it out. He laughed as he examined it, "It looks so gross!"

Sebastian observed that there were 3,784 leaves on the fourth branch of the tree. How nice.

Alois moved in close and sniffed Sebastian's hair much like he had done when Sebastian came to retrieve Ciel's soul. "You don't smell good anymore. You smell like shit!" giggled the child, kicking his feet again.

Sebastian counted 736, 923 leaves on the tree, but now he had a problem; Alois was still there bothering him, and there was nothing to distract him from the noise. As the Trancy boy continued to harass him, Sebastian imagined the boy's leg twisting around and around in his mind.

"You're just a..." _Crack. _The boy's eyes went wide as he heard the sound coming from in front of him, and when he looked down, he felt the agony. "AAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUGHHHHH! CLAUDE! CLAUDE! HELP ME!"

Sebastian decided that he really should have done that a long time ago; he had the power to injure people using his mind, but he only used it for his masters sake. Of course, this might be an exception to the rule.

As soon as the child screamed, his butler appeared beside him, and Sebastian was thrown across the pen and against the fence. Some zookeepers who were standing nearby rushed over to the screeching boy, and others detained Sebastian (as if he could really go anywhere anyway).

"What should we do with this one, Earl Trancy?" asked one of the workers.

Alois was going into shock from the sudden pain and defeat, but managed to choke out "Make... him... suffer..."

"Right away, your highness." answered the zookeepers. Apparently he and Claude had them trained well. "Solitary." he called to the other employees. "Go!"

Sebastian was growing weary of this kidnapping, and decided that the sooner he got out, the better. He figured that 'solitary' referred to a type of solitary confinement, and unless they brought Claude in every hour or so to break his spine, he would be able to heal up nicely and get the hell out of there.

XXXXX

Phew. Another chapter at last. I know that the case closed pretty quickly, but I really want to get this little arc done. It's been going on for a while. (Fun fact, the mortician character is actually based off a doctor I used to go to. He creeped me out, so I switched to someone else).

Thank you so much for reading, and please review!


	10. Chapter 10

"Explain this to me again, Ciel. Where are we going?"

"I've told you seven times already, we're going to the zoo." Ciel sighed.

"And why are we going..."

"A case! We have a case, no, _I _have a case to investigate there."

"What kind of..."

"It's none of your business!" he snapped at the prince. He was already frustrated with that stupid case (which really didn't require much thought), he was worried about what Alois might have done to Sebastian (if he had actually managed to kidnap him at all, which he sort of doubted was within the lowly child's ability), and now Soma, with his repetitive questioning, was getting on the edge of his last nerve. By the time they got to the front gate of the zoo, this conversation had repeated itself eleven times, and Ciel's face was bright red with anger as he tried to keep from screaming. The earl stormed through the gates of the London Zoo, grumbling non-words to himself as he walked past the ticket booth before his two companions could follow.

"Hey! You there, come back! You have to pay to get in you know!" hollered the teller, as he scrambled out of his booth to chase after the boy. When he caught up, he grabbed the child by the shoulder. "You need to –."

"_Don't touch me so easily!" _screamed Ciel, causing the man to let him go in shock... only to follow him again, since he still hadn't paid his admission.

"It's only five pounds, c'mon I can take it right now you don't have to worry about going back to the front..." he tried, but of course Ciel didn't listen. He was not here to stare at animals, and he refused to pay because some idiot had sold his property to an insane child with an insect for a butler! He managed to reach Sebastian's habitat without being touched again by the teller, who was unsure whether he should continue pursuing the boy and risk being screamed at again, or just let him go (clearly the more sane decision).

Apparently, Alois had in fact managed to get Sebastian. There were several workers around, disassembling the habitat, one of whom spotted the young earl and went bug-eyed. Ciel stared blankly at the man, waiting for him to stop looking at him like an idiot and come over to explain why his butler was no longer there. Eventually he did come over, shuffling over slowly and keeping his eyes averted.

"What happened to my demon?" he asked, as calmly as possible.

The zookeeper scuffed his foot against the ground, making little clouds of dust form around his feet. "I'm so so sorry Earl Ciel Phantomhive." he said, so quickly that his words slurred into each other. "I... I forgot to send the letter... I have it! Here, here it is, please take it, I'm so so sorry." He took out a slightly crumpled envelope from his pocket and handed it to Ciel. "I'm sorry you were so worried."

Ciel ripped the letter out of the zookeeper's hand and tore through the envelope, tossing it on the ground and stamping the Trancy seal into the dust as he read:

_Dear Earl Ciel Phantomhive,_

_ On behalf of Earl Alois Trancy I write you today to inform you that the House of Trancy is currently in possession of your butler, Sebastian Michaelis. I apologize for any possible inconvenience that this may have caused to you, and assure you that he is safely in the care of_

There, the letter turned into less of a letter and more of a giant ink blot, followed by the poorly scribbled words 'Ha ha, you'll never find him!' and a crude drawing of what was presumably a decapitated crow. It was nice to see that Alois was as mature and sane as ever.

"Thank you." he said to the zookeeper, folding the letter and putting it into his pocket. So that gave him no new information whatsoever, or at least none that he could use. Did the Trancy boy expect him to go on a wild goose chase across England in search of his missing butler? He certainly didn't have time for something like that, he had already wasted a few days on that case, he was going to be swamped with paperwork by the end of the week. He was beginning to understand why Sebastian was always so whiny when he got kidnapped by drug lords, it truly was a pain.

"I suppose you wouldn't know at all where Alois Trancy has taken my demon, would you? He didn't say anything regarding that, did he?"

The zookeeper shook his head. "He said that all the details would be in the letter."

Ciel scoffed and turned his back to the zookeeper, heading toward the main gate (with the teller still following about ten feet behind, just in case). Well, that hadn't solved _anything. _He was just as lost as when he had arrived, and about ten times as irritated. Sebastian was going to be in so much trouble once he got him back; how dare he let himself get kidnapped!

He saw Agni and Soma looking at the zebras (or rather, Agni was looking and Soma was flailing around trying to get their attention) and went over to them to inform them that they had to leave to investigate. Not that he knew how that was going to happen of course. It was going to be nearly impossible to transport Sebastian back to the original zoo without Soma or Agni noticing that he was a demon. There would be questions, lots of questions and it was possible that he would have to explain more than he wanted to. However, this was his only hope of getting Sebastian back safely.

"Agni." he said, voice serious to get his complete attention. The man turned to him, concerned as he waited for his orders. "We have to leave."

"Why is that, Master Ciel?" he asked, noticing right away that something was clearly very wrong. "What has happened?"

Ciel sighed, crushing the useless letter in his fist. How was he going to explain this to them? "It appears we have come to the wrong zoo..." he began, a look of mild confusion crossing the butler's face.

"What zoo do you need to investigate, Master Ciel?" he asked, becoming increasingly curious as to what exactly the boy needed to look into. A zoo was certainly a strange place for a crime to occur, but clearly Ciel had no say in what he had to investigate and where.

"I not can't say for sure." Ciel answered, sighing again as he tried opened the crumpled letter and tried to decipher what had been written before that noxious child destroyed it. He even turned it over to see if possibly the writing had caused an indentation but unfortunately Claude's writing was so light and careful that it was perfectly flat on the other side. And also perfectly useless.

"We will simply need to travel to every zoo in the area." Ciel stated, adding _"Not_ because we are going on any sort of 'best friend zoo hopping adventure', 'surprise half birthday trip' or anything to do with 'brother detectives'!" he snapped before Soma could decide to dub his investigation any of the above. Soma frowned at this declaration, trudging away from the zebra cage and pouting beside Agni. It was disappointing that he wouldn't get a trip with his friend, but this time it was clear that Ciel was very serious.

"... What is it you are looking for, Master Ciel?" Agni asked, his curiosity finally taking over. He hadn't been nearly this serious last time, it was very unusual indeed.

Ciel didn't answer right away. He looked over the letter one more time, just to make completely sure that nothing there could be used to lead them to Sebastian. He didn't _have _to tell them about everything, it was his right to maintain some level of confidentiality. However, as much as the great Ciel Phantomhive did not want to admit it, he was going to need some help. Folding the letter, Ciel placed it in his pocket and turned toward the front gate, looking as determined as ever.

"We are looking for a demon."

XXXXX

'Solitary' was a fairly unpleasant place. It was dark, extremely dirty and there was little in there to keep the injured demon occupied until he healed. Sebastian was lying on the cold cement floor, turned slightly toward the wall where he carved pictures of spiders into the wall. Spiders getting squished, spiders being eaten by crows, spiders with their legs torn off, spiders being mutilated in the most horrible ways possible. It made him feel slightly better, though he would rather be murdering Claude himself.

It took nearly 24 hours for his body to heal, at which point he turned around to check out the state of his poor feathers. Oh, they were horrible. They were all stuck together, practically shriveled, and oily. Ugh, they even smelled like human. It would take forever to clean them off.

But he couldn't worry about that right now. He had to somehow get out of here and get back to the other zoo (though of course he would prefer the manor, but he was under orders). Sebastian got up and stretched his newly healed body before heading over to the door and examining the structure. It was locked, obviously, and made from concrete and steel, so it would be quite the pain to break through it. Of course, it was completely possible for Sebastian to do so.

The demon cracked his knuckles and fingers in preparation, then punched through the solid concrete and metal block that was the door. It took him a couple of tries to actually make a hole in the wall, but when he did he slunk out of the chamber. Fortunately it was nighttime and there were very few humans walking around the zoo, and most of the staff was currently cleaning up, or tending to a screaming Alois Trancy in the medical tent.

Rubbing his hand gently, Sebastian followed the noise of the child's screams. He wasn't the person that he wanted to see right now, but there was no possible way that he would ever let Alois get away with kidnapping him with nothing more than a twisted leg.

Sebastian quickly located the tent, thanks to the faux Earl's high pitched squeals of complaint. He stood outside for a moment, smirking as he listened to something that could barely be called conversation coming from inside.

"_What do you mean you can't fix it! I've been in here for a fucking week and you still don't know how to fix it? It bloody hurts!" _

"Your Highness, you have been in here for little more than 42 hours. That is hardly…"

"_Shut up Claude! __I don't care about that! Why can't you fix it either! You're useless!" _

Sebastian chuckled softly to himself when he heard a loud smack and a series of gasps from the staff.

"Earl Trancy! Please refrain from such actions, this zoo has no tolerance for animal abuse!" one warned him, causing Sebastian to chuckle again.

"What an unusual policy." Sebastian said, entering the tent much to the surprise of everyone within. "You will not allow this brand of 'abuse' but you condone my kidnap and torture. Quite a contradiction, is it not?" He walked forward into the tent and kicked Claude through the side of the tent (and at least several hundred metres away) as a preemptive defense for the inevitable attack. "Or perhaps you are so simple that this common child was able to trick you into doing so?" he continued, bringing one heeled boot up to rest on Alois's abdomen.

As he looked down at the frightened child, the staff surrounding them erupted into confused and angry chattering about 'not knowing that he was kidnapped' and 'being sure that Earl Trancy had permission to take this demon here'. Sebastian could see the terror in Alois's eyes as he realized that his plan was quickly falling apart. The demon could only smirk as the staff quickly began to side with him. "I believe you know the punishment for that." He smirked, running a finger over the child's neck.

As he heard a loud whistling noise coming toward the tent, Sebastian kicked Alois off the bed and jumped out of the hole in the tent, running at top speed to meet Claude as he returned to defend his master. The two demons clashed in a ferocious battle in the center of the zoo, tearing into each other with their teeth and nails, screeching at each other loudly enough to alert any passersby that there was a demonic battle raging on nearby.

XXXXX

"Agni! Stop the carriage!" Ciel screamed out the window, and the moment it stopped he jumped out and listened to the earsplitting noise coming from behind them. Agni got off the carriage as well, and went over to the young boy to make sure that he was alright.

"Master Ciel, what is that?" he asked, extremely worried. He had never heard any creature make that sound in his life, and it certainly didn't sound human. Ciel had explained that they were looking for a demon, but he still couldn't fully believe that it was true.

"… I believe that is where we need to go…" Ciel said quietly, walking back around the carriage. "Turn us around, Agni. Go toward that sound. And quickly." He ordered, getting back into his seat. He had never heard Sebastian make such a noise, but he was positive that those noises were demonic in nature. And there were two of them, so it was more than likely that one of the noises came from Claude as he attacked his butler. He could only hope that they arrived in time to stop whatever was going on, or he feared that there might not be a Sebastian to bring back with them.

Soma had been asleep for a while as they travelled around to different zoos in England. They had been at this for nearly 2 days, and this was the first time that they found anything that could even remotely lead them to the demon. Luckily, he didn't have enough energy to 'help' Ciel with his investigation, and he had become disenchanted with the animals after the first couple of stops. Hopefully he would remain calm when they found Sebastian.

It was nearly half an hour before they arrived at the zoo, and the noises had quieted slightly. Rather than constant angry screeches, there was only the occasional scream or cry of pain. Ciel could only assume that the battle was nearly over, which would make everything easier for him.

The boy got out of the carriage, instructing his counterparts to stay where they were, and walked right through the open gates of the zoo, though it could hardly be called a zoo anymore. Beat up, dented cages and ripped up tents were strewn about the area, and confused animals were roaming free. He continued walking around the wreckage until he came to the center, where two beat up, bloody demons were making halfhearted attempts to attack each other in the dirt, their former bloodcurdling screeches now reduced to low whimpers and whines.

"Tch." Ciel scoffed, getting the attention of both creatures, who ended their battle and looked over to him with a dreamy sense of relief.

"Young master…" Sebastian muttered, standing up in spite of his exhaustion to go over and bow to the child. His clothing was torn up, revealing deep scratches on his body. His lip was split and bloody, he was covered in dirt and grime, and his wings were disgustingly ragged. Yet, with the way he still managed to hold himself up straight, with his trademark smirk across his lips as he pinned his heel into the other demon's hand, he still seemed like the same smug, arrogant demon, ever pristine in attitude and demeanor.

"You're an idiot." Ciel declared, sighing as he looked his butler over. "You look awful."

"My apologies, my lord. I was inconvenienced by this thing." He answered, kicking Claude in the side of the head as he crawled over to Ciel with an odd, creepy gaze.

"_CLAUDE!" _

The scream came from the child across the battleground, being carried away by the police as several enraged zookeepers pointed around between Sebastian, Ciel, Alois and Claude, presumably telling about how they had been tricked into keeping a kidnapped demon. Claude looked up at Ciel for a moment, almost pleading with his eyes as the staff came over to take him to Alois and decide on his punishment. Ciel stepped back from him and allowed them remove the demon from his feet and drag him over to his master.

As soon as they were in custody, Ciel sighed and took off his coat.

"Agni and Soma are in the carriage, and we need to bring you back to the other zoo." Ciel explained to his butler, holding the jacket out for him "Put this on your head."

"… Excuse me?"

"Don't make me order you, Sebastian. It is bad enough already that I had to explain that I was finding a demon. I don't need to make it worse by letting them know that it's you. Now put it on, and make sure it covers your face completely."

"Young master, you must start thinking things through." He said, covering his head with the jacket. "This is one of your better outfits, Ms. Hopkins will not be pleased with you for destroying your clothing."

"You're one to talk." Ciel scoffed, taking Sebastian's torn sleeve in his hand and pulling him toward the carriage.

"Master Ciel, have you found…" Agni asked, freezing when he saw the demon following behind him, more confused than frightened by the creature. "… Master Ciel?"

"This is the demon we needed to find, he says you cannot look at his face directly, so I covered him with my jacket. Let him in the carriage, Agni." Ciel ordered simply, and the butler complied without question.

Sebastian sat across from Soma, who was now very much awake and in mixed terror awe at the new passenger in the carriage.

"… Ciel… is that really a demon? Why is your coat on his face? Why is he in the zoo? Where does he have to go? Can we go home now? Is your case done?" he asked, shrinking back from the creature.

"Yes, he is really a demon. You can't see his face. Someone kidnapped him. He is going back to the other zoo. We can go home once he is returned. Yes, it is done."

"Jeune maître, vous êtes sûr que je dois retourner au zoo? Je pense que compte tenu des circonstances, je doit retourner au manoir. " asked Sebastian (much to Ciel's dismay. He had expected Sebastian to be silent through this entire ride, but of course the demon would use his knowledge of French against him). He didn't think that he could survive another few weeks in that zoo, and considering everything that had just happened, it made much more sense for him to return to the manor.

"Non, je vous ai donné un ordre. Vous êtes à rester dans le zoo jusqu'à la fin du mois, je ne se soucient pas de vos 'circonstances'. Vous allez survivre. " Ciel snapped back. As if he were ever going to let Sebastian come home because he was 'kidnapped'. He was under orders, and he was going to follow them to the end.

Sebastian smirked. "Très bien. Je suis sûr que vous pourrez également profiter le reste du mois avec eux." He knew that Ciel wasn't enjoying his month with Agni and Soma, and though he didn't believe he could, perhaps he could convince him to let him come home. Life would be much easier for both of them.

"Tais-toi. Vous savez mieux que d'aller contre vos ordres" Ciel hissed back. Sebastian was not going to convince him otherwise. He was staying in the zoo no matter how irritating Agni and Soma could be.

The prince gaped at Ciel as he spoke to the demon, surprised that he would converse with the creature so informally, and angrily from the way it sounded. His tone made it almost sound like he was speaking to Sebastian.

"Sebastian!" Soma screamed out, suddenly reminded of Ciel's butler's whereabouts. "Ciel! If this demon is speaking French, then he is from France, that is where Sebastian is! Tell this demon to stay away from him!" Soma was quite afraid of Sebastian, but he was his best friend and little brother's butler. If he got hurt by a demon that would be awful!

"… I will be sure to tell him, Soma." Ciel said flatly, and then proceeded to talk to the 'demon' once again.

He agreed that Sebastian would go unharmed.

XXXXX

Phew ! I finally finished the chapter ! That only took… forever… and a half… OTL

I hope that you enjoyed this chapter, it was quite difficult to write :P I've been doing college things and I haven't had as much time/energy as I would have liked. Also it was painful to punish Claude and Alois for me. I must admit love the Trancys. Maybe I will write them a story to make up for it.

Oh, and here's translations of the French.

Sebastian : Young master, are you sure that I must return to the zoo? I think considering the circumstances I should return to the manor.

Ciel : No, I gave you an order. You are to stay in the zoo until the end of the month, I don't care about your 'circumstances'. You will survive.

Sebastian : Very well. I am sure you will also enjoy the rest of the month with them.

Ciel : Shut up. You know better than to go against your orders.

If it's horribly grammatically incorrect, I apologize. I am a Spanish major, I don't know a word of French.

And thank you all for being patient and others for beating me with sticks until I update. Both are greatly appreciated.

Review please! It fuels my writer energy.


	11. Chapter 11

I live! I hope you enjoy the new chapter.

XXXXX

By that afternoon, Sebastian was back in his cage, lying on his back and staring at the rock ceiling of the enclosure. It was late in the afternoon, and there were still a few stragglers peeking in his window, whispering about him and wondering why he wasn't doing anything interesting. But Sebastian didn't particularly care about their complaints today, had no interest in entertaining.

On the occasion, he would turn over and pick at his feathers to remove a stuck on piece of candy or an insect which had decided to move in. Ugh, he had vermin in his wings. How could he ever live with himself after letting them get to this level of filth? It was positively shameful.

Soon enough, the people outside his cage left and allowed him to sulk in peace. The demon got up and went over to the little water hole they had installed as per his instruction. It was going to take a while for just water to remove the human oils from his precious feathers, but it was his only resource for the time being. He would have to make do.

Sebastian relaxed in the warm water, heated to perfection by his personal underground lava pool. He let his eyes close and his mind drift back to Hell where he would bathe in Phlegethon, the river of boiling blood, and listen to the panicked screaming of humans being boiled alive over and over and over for all eternity. He could nearly smell the blood and hear the tragic cries of the dying sinners.

Though, the smell of blood was becoming a bit too real. Breaking out of his memory, Sebastian opened his eyes, only to find that the scent hadn't disappeared. In a brief panic he checked himself over to make sure he wasn't bleeding, but the scent wasn't that of demon blood. It wasn't even that of human blood.

"... goat blood?" he mused to himself, puzzled. Yes, it was certainly goat blood. But where could it...

Before he could finish his thought, the door to Sebastian's habitat opened and the smell became positively overwhelming as two zoo employees dragged in the bloodied corpse of a small, horned animal over to his pool. It dropped with a sickening splat on the stone floor, and the zookeepers looked down at the demon proudly.

"... what is this?" the demon asked, confused and fairly disgusted at the sickening display before him.

"A sacrifice." answered one of the zookeepers, "We thought you might be hungry"

Sebastian's gaze shifted rapidly between the two increasingly confused humans and the freshly slain carcass on the floor. Sacrifice? They had to be joking.

"_What kind of demon do you think I am?"_ he snapped, getting out of the pool as soon as he realized that his water had become slightly bloody. "I am _not_ some primitive, undignified creature who feeds off of the corpses of goats! Even if I did, I would expect it to be well cleaned and presented properly, not thrown into my bathtub whole. Do you treat all your tenants so rudely, or do I simply give off the impression of being so uncivilized that I would feed in such an abominable fashion?!"

Sneering, Sebastian stepped up onto a large rock just above his pool, wanting to get away from the offensive meal that had been set before him. The two zookeepers stared up at him in terror, wanting to tear their eyes away from the glowing eyes of the demon, but too scared to even think of moving.

"W-we... we heard... demons eat... sacrificed... animals..." one managed to stutter out.

"Did your local devil worshipers tell you that?" Sebastian sighed.

The other one shook his head. "They went on a trip and they won't be back until next week"

"Then where did you ever get the idea that the _Phantomhive butler _eats dead goats?"

"... we... erm..."

"I don't suppose this is how you feed all the others, is it?"

"Well... it... sort of... yes..."

Without a word, Sebastian stepped off the rock and headed toward the door in a huff. How could he live in a place where the very concept of manners was pathetically nonexistent? He may be a demon, but he had standards. High, _high _standards.

"Clean that up _thoroughly _and then meet me in the kitchen. You do have a kitchen, don't you?"

They nodded quickly.

"How impressive." He scoffed. With the treatment they gave food here, Sebastian was half expecting that they dug through the garbage to feed their animals. But with him around, it wouldn't last long. After all, it was only natural for him, as the Phantomhive butler.

XXXXX

Ciel slumped in his desk chair, exhausted and irritated from everything that had happened over the last couple of days. He was slightly relieved that he didn't have to travel around looking for his butler anymore, but he was swamped with work, he still had to check up on Sebastian every few days. The butler was becoming more and more of an inconvenience for the earl, and he wasn't even in the manor. It had taken days to get through just one of the massive piles of documents on his desk. Admittedly, he had started to get a little sloppy due to exhaustion and filled out a couple of orders wrong. For some reason, the factories assumed that any extra orders were for his own personal use, and there were now boxes of toys, candy and food littering his front garden.

This was not only a problem from a business perspective. He had an idiotic man-child of a prince in the house, and he didn't even want to think about how he was going to react to the presence of all these boxes.

As Ciel sighed and slumped back in his chair there was a knock on the door. "Come in…" he muttered. Since there was a knock involved, he knew it had to be Agni. He was the only one who had the common courtesy to do so. Ciel remained in his less than professional sitting position, frowning as he was served his afternoon tea.

"Is something the matter, Master Ciel?" Agni asked. In response, Ciel simply looked up at him over his papers.

He sighed and turned his chair so that it was facing the front window, and the mass of boxes scattered about it.

"I need you to get rid of those boxes before Soma gets any ideas. I believe you know to what I am referring."

Agni nodded solemnly. Ever since the 'surprise vacation' turned out to be an actual investigation, Soma had been expecting some sort of repayment for his trials. And the closer it came to his alleged half-birthday, the prince's expectations only grew. It had become enough of a problem that even Agni was troubled by his master's behavior. If he found out that there were boxes upon boxes of goodies on the front lawn, it was likely that Ciel would be caught in a permanent hug for the remainder of the year.

"Get rid of the boxes. Send them to an orphanage or something, just get them off my property."

A small smile graced Agni's face, as Ciel's kindness and generosity never failed to amaze him.

"Of course, Master Ciel." Agni left the tray of tea and cakes on the earl's desk and taking his leave.

Ciel watched out the window for a bit longer, then rested his head in his hands. He couldn't understand how, when, or why it happened, but a tiny part of him wanted to go get Sebastian out of the zoo already and return to his manor. As competent as Agni was, spending his days keeping Soma out of his hair was getting exhausting. When Sebastian was around, he didn't have to worry about anything but his work and his cases. He had to do far too much for his liking with Agni and Soma around.

Perhaps when he went back into town, he would call off the whole thing and take his butler back. No, that would give Sebastian too much leverage to mock him. Maybe he could subtly persuade his butler to come back before his time was up. He doubted that Sebastian was enjoying this arrangement either.

Ciel sighed and rubbed his temples. He had gotten himself into quite the mess, hadn't he? Stuck in a house with an idiot and his servant, without a hint of his butler except for his distant mocking letters. Had he been a weaker person, and had he not known better, he might say that this is Hell. Of course, that was preposterous.

After a few more minutes Ciel returned to his desk and sipped his tea, poking at a blueberry tart with his fork. He couldn't even bring himself to enjoy the break that tea time brought him. It was official; Sebastian's absence was a problem.

XXXXX

"No, no, no, the parsley leaves go on the _left_ side. Have you learned nothing? If you put them on the right, then the plate will be horribly disproportionate." Sebastian explained for the thirteenth time to the frightened zoo employees. "If you would just try listening we could have had these dishes out an hour ago."

"But we've only been here for ten minutes…"

"It is a necessary skill for any respectable servant. Now, place those parsley leaves exactly as I told you."

With a shaking hand, the short, freckled zookeeper plucked a few leaves from the bunch of parsley and tentatively moved his hand closer to the plate of carefully sliced meat. He positioned his fingers carefully, preparing to drop the spice onto the raw beef, but right as he let it drop, the leaves were plucked from his hands by a clearly irritated demon.

"Not _on _the meat. _Beside _it." He grumbled, expertly placing the tiny green bundle on the left side of the plate, nearly but not quite touching the edge of the beef, but still close enough that it wouldn't fall off the plate. "That is how to garnish a plate."

"That's what I just did!" argued one of the other zookeepers, pointing to his own plate.

"Yes, and it would be correct if the leaves were facing the proper direction." Sebastian corrected, turning the parsley counterclockwise on the plate. "Perhaps we should return to the basics. Do you recall what I told you?"

"…. You spoke too fast…"

"Perhaps you simply did not listen. I told you that you must consider your linens, cutlery, china and general décor before you begin arranging your plate. You must also consider the main dish and side dishes, their shapes and sizes and how they will relate to the shape of the serving plates. You must make it appealing but never overdo the garnish or else the plate will appear crowded. You also must be sure that the dish does not appear lopsided; balance is critical in proper presentation. And for the final time, the _center_piece goes in the _center." _Sebastian rattled off at lightning speed. "Do I make myself clear?"

The zookeepers shook their heads so fast it was dizzying. The demon pinched the bridge of his nose and paced in frustration as he attempted to explain again.

"Erm…. I don't think the animals are gonna use forks and knives… They don't have hands you know…"

"I am aware, but it will not hurt to have some sense of aesthetic." Sebastian snapped back.

"They'll just break the china…"

"It can be replaced."

"… we can't buy new plates every day, even with all the new visitors…"

"Then perhaps you have skewed your priorities again, young master. It is quite important that this is done correctly."

"… erm…" the three zookeepers traded confused glances as Sebastian paced back and forth, stressed over food presentation. They were well aware of his occupation during his contract, and it seemed that he had some form of withdrawal from his job. While they found this strange, they didn't want to point anything out to him. There was no saying what an angry demon would do to three helpless humans. "We will do whatever you need us to do, Sebastian…" one of them ventured.

"Very well." He stopped pacing and pointed to the first zookeeper. "You are in charge of the food. I expect all of the plates to resemble my example as closely as possible" he moved to the second. "You are to clean and prepare the china and cutlery. Be careful and do not break it. And you" he said to the third, "I expect you to feed all of the herbivorous animals. Be sure to arrange plates for them as well."

"Yes sir…" they muttered, very unsure and terrified that they would make a mess of their work. As long as they satisfied their demon butler, they figured they would at least survive the evening. Each of the employees began their assigned duties immediately, working carefully but quickly.

Sebastian watched from a distance, assisting with the work as well (inexperienced as the zookeepers were). It was, oddly enough, enjoyable for him to be in this position once again; 'Sebastian' was the perfect servant after all. It was in his very nature, and would be until the contract ended. Perhaps the animals in the zoo didn't care terribly about the presentation of their meals, but it was satisfying to be in charge again.

As he watched his 'servants' working, bringing the prepared meals out to their respective animals, Sebastian couldn't stop himself from smirking (nearly even smiling). He knew his young master would judge him harshly for this behavior, but he had a feeling that he was faring better than the young earl. In fact, he would bet on it.

XXXXX

There was noise downstairs. So much noise that two floors up, Ciel stirred in his chair from a sleep he didn't remember falling into. Rubbing his eye, the boy straightened himself up and yawned. What could possibly be going on in his house that was so loud? Even Soma had at volume limit.

Although his ribbon was untied, a couple buttons were undone on his jacket, and his hair was messy, Ciel foolishly left his office to go downstairs. He was the master of the house, wasn't he? He could do as he wished in his own home. Yawning again, Ciel made his way downstairs to the entrance hall.

He honestly should have expected what he saw, but he had been trying not to think about it. The entrance hall was decked out in streamers, flowers, glitter, and an assortment of other decorations which he did not recall putting there. There were people overflowing from the ballroom, and a live orchestra playing in the corner. Tables of decadent food lined the walls, and wrapped gifts piled up beside the staircase. He clenched his teeth when he noticed that all the food, wrapping paper and gifts which had been opened were all from his company. Evidently, Agni was unable to do his job as instructed. As the final piece to this infernal puzzle, he was tackled to the ground by none other than Prince Soma.

"Ciel! I knew you would plan me a surprise party! You truly are my best friend!"

"I did nothing of the sort, let go of me!" Ciel barked, shoving the other boy away.

"But you did! I saw the presents you bought for me, so I invited all of our friends to my surprise party."

"It isn't a surprise party if you planned it for yourself!"

"You did a very good job of hiding it, Ciel. Agni was in on it too, he said he was going to send all the boxes away, but I knew better. I knew my little brother was planning something."

This was the final straw. Before he could be thanked anymore or forced into one of those hideous conical birthday hats (he wished a fiery end on whoever invented that custom) Ciel marched down the stairs and out the front door. Social faux pas as it might be to leave a party one is allegedly hosting, the Phantomhive had quite enough of this nonsense. He refused to stop, no matter who tried to get him back, or how. He went straight to the stable to get his horse, and rode off to the zoo to find Sebastian.

XXXXX

It was just past closing time, and Sebastian had left the feeding to his just about capable brigade of zookeepers. He was relaxing in his sleeping cave, pleased with his accomplishment today. He doubted it would hold up, but he felt that he had raised the standards of living in this zoo tenfold, at least for today.

He was in a near meditative state when he heard the door open yet again, and the scent of blood once again wafted in from across the room. Hopping out of his cage, he saw the three zookeepers carrying a large platter across his habitat. Sebastian continued across the cage to meet up with them, and smiled a tiny bit once he saw the amount of effort that was put into the dish.

It wasn't perfect, but it wasn't awful either. And they looked so proud of it, the demon couldn't find it in himself to criticize.

"We thought you still might be hungry." One of them said, beaming with pride over their work.

"I am flattered that you would think of me. However, I must refuse. This sort of food will do little more than upset my stomach."

The zookeepers looked at each other, dejected.

"It is not your doing. I can only consume human souls" Sebastian smiled. He retreated to his cave, leaving the zookeepers pale and petrified holding the plate of wasted food.

Sebastian chuckled to himself and laid down in his cave. Perhaps he should have told them he can only eat one soul while under contract.

XXXXX

Thank you for reading, everyone. Please review, concrit and make any suggestions if there's anything you want to see in future chapters.

And have a lovely holiday, whichever one you are celebrating.


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